Alaska State Troopers say a 22-year-old village police officer in Kobuk has been charged with sexual abuse of a minor after asking a 12-year-old girl to have sex via text messages at least 20 times while on duty.
Leon Outwater has been charged with first- and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, as well as tampering with physical evidence, according to online court records.
Kobuk, the community the young officer served, is tiny village of 141 Alaskans located on the bank of a river by the same name. It's a local option community that banned the sale and importation of alcohol in 1989.
Troopers say on Thursday they got a call from the mother of a 12-year-old girl. A Friday trooper dispatch simply says the mom was concerned for her daughter's safety.
A Northwest Arctic Borough Village Public Safety Officer aided the troopers in an investigation, and authorities found that Outwater had "solicited the (12-year-old) female to engage in sexual intercourse with him at least 20 times during a 24-hour period via text messages," the trooper dispatch said.
Outwater allegedly sent the texts while he was on duty as the village's police officer and used a work phone to send them, troopers say.
When the suspect was relieved of his duties, troopers say he deleted text messages from the phone, resulting in the tampering with evidence charge.
Outwater has been taken to the Kotzebue Regional Jail in the hub community 128 air miles away. He's scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon at the Kotzebue Courthouse.
Correction: A previous version of this story reported that Outwater had sex with the 12-year-old girl. The trooper dispatch says he solicited the girl for sex 20 times.