A man who prosecutors say is a U.S. Army nurse was charged with sexual abuse of a minor after a 14-year-old responded to his Craigslist advertisement seeking sex with another man, prosecutors said.
Police began investigating Tom Lusuli Malenya, of Silver Spring, late last month after the boy's mother discovered text message exchanges between the ninth-grader and the 41-year-old man, according to charging documents filed in federal court in the District of Columbia.
While looking through her son's cell phone, she noticed text messages to "Frank" in which the son said he could not talk for a couple of days because of a death in the family.
The mother became suspicious because she knew there had not been a family death, so she began her own text communications with "Frank" while posing as her son, court documents said.
When the mother asked what they were going to do, Frank responded that they would shower and perform sexual acts.
The mother reported her findings to the D.C. police, who interviewed the boy.
Police said the 14-year-old told investigators that he met the man through Craigslist. The child told the man that he was 18, and they arranged to meet at Frank's apartment, police said.
According to the court documents: The boy, still wearing his school uniform, took the Metro from D.C. to Silver Spring, and followed Frank's directions to his apartment. Frank asked the boy whether he was still in school, and he said he was in the ninth grade. Frank went into the bathroom and came out naked, and the boy said they had sex.
Last week, a D.C. police detective posing as the boy began communication with Frank.
Police said he recounted the shower that the two had together and told the boy to come over after school to have sex.
The undercover officer mentioned the boy's age, and Frank allegedly responded, "Are you 14?"
When the undercover detective asked whether that was OK, the man responded "As long as you don't tell anyone is cool," charging documents said.
Law enforcement agents said they used database searches to determined that "Frank" was Malenya. The defendant lives at the same address he provided by the boy, charging documents said.
