Tyler man arrested for Instagram meetup with minor

SMITH COUNTY — According to our news partner KETK, a man was arrested in Smith County on Tuesday for sexually assaulting a minor and having pornographic images of children on his phone. Police were dispatched to a Walmart in Tyler on Oct. 29 after a woman called claiming her 15-year-old sister had been assaulted. The victim had reportedly left her parents’ house to meet with a man she knew from Instagram as “Mike.”

Mike, later revealed to be Michael Rodas, had been messaging the victim on social media, where he told her that he was 17. Officers observed threads where the two discussed meeting up and Rodas asked for nude photographs and sexual favors if he picked her up. On the day of the incident, Rodas took the minor to a residence in Tyler, where he allegedly forced her to commit sexual acts on him. The victim managed to leave and contacted her sister for help and to be picked up.

Following an investigation, law enforcement obtained search warrants for Rodas’ phone and located several photographs of partially or fully nude people, among them was the victim, a younger, possibly minor boy, and a pre-pubescent girl.

Rodas remains in the Smith County Jail for sexual assault of a child and possession of visual material depicting sexual assault and is being held on a $750,000 bond.