Christopher Blake Wagner, 18, of Carrollton, used an undercover method to solicit and exploit young girls through the Internet social networking site Facebook for months, according to Carrollton Police Detective Blake Hitchcock.

Wagner was arrested Monday and charged with violation of computer or electronic pornography laws and the Child Exploitation Act and unlawful eavesdropping of surveillance, based on information received from an alleged 13-year-old victim and her mother.

Wagner first befriended the girl through Facebook using his real name and profile information. He then used his “friend status” to gain access to her personal information, which included her e-mail address, phone number and birth date, Hitchcock said.

He would also have been able to see a list of her other friends and assume the identity of one her age.

Using this information, Wagner allegedly created an e-mail account from which he text messaged the girl saying that he was a peer whose cell phone had broken, Hitchcock explained.

“He even went so far as to text photos from her real friend’s Facebook page to convince her that he was the friend,” Hitchcock said.

Once Wagner gained the girl’s trust, he started using sexually explicit language and requested that she send him photos of herself. When she sent clothed pictures of her body, Wagner allegedly posted them on a phony Facebook account.

Hitchcock said that after the girl told her mother what happened, they approached the person who they believed had sent the text messages. Upon discovering that the girl’s real friend had no involvement, the family went to the police.

“In this situation, the mother and daughter had open communication,” Hitchcock said. “You want kids to be able to tell their parents anything.”

Hitchcock said he is still working to identify some of Wagner’s other victims, whom he believes were contacted as early as July of this year.

“It is important to know your friends so you can actually confirm whether or not it was them who contacted you,” Hitchcock said.

According to the Facebook safety disclaimer Web page, children under the age of 13 are not permitted access to Facebook, although it would be hard to prove that a user is under-age. The site also encourages parents of 13-year-olds to consider supervision methods for their child’s profile.

“Despite Facebook’s safety and privacy controls, Facebook cannot guarantee that the site is entirely free of illegal, offensive, pornographic or otherwise inappropriate material, or that its members will not encounter inappropriate or illegal conduct from other members,” Facebook warns.

Though the site offers ways to report inappropriate behavior, Wagner’s page showcasing photos of the girl was only removed after Hitchcock’s request.

“The best way to prevent this sort of thing is for parents to be educated and to communicate with their kids,” Hitchcock said.

Web sites such as Ncmec.org and OngaurdOnline.gov offer safety tips and information about social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others.