An Alaska police officer has been arrested and charged with soliciting a 12-year-old girl for sex using a village-issued cell phone.

Investigators said Leon Outwater sent at least 20 text messages to the girl over a 24-hour period while he was drunk on duty.

The 22-year-old Outwater was charged with two counts of soliciting first- and second-degree child sexual abuse as an authority figure and one count of evidence tampering.

ADVERTISEMENT

Outwater started working for the village of Kobuk, which sits north of the Arctic Circle and has a population of about 140 people who depend on caribou and moose hunting, on Oct. 19, according to his Facebook page.

State troopers had to fly about 155 miles from Kotzebue to arrest Outwater on Friday.

The girl’s mother found the text messages and called state troopers Nov. 20, about three days after the messages were sent.

State troopers said Outwater deleted the text messages from the phone after his shift ended and he handed over the phone to the officer who relieved him.

Investigators said village records confirm Outwater was on duty when the messages were sent, and they said he admitted to sending the messages.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I was drunk,” Outwater said, according to state troopers.

State troopers said it took about a month to investigate the case, but they did not believe the girl was in danger in the meantime.

Investigators found no evidence that Outwater had sexual contact with the girl or any others.

ADVERTISEMENT

A village administrator declined to comment on Outwater’s employment status.

[Image via Agence France-Presse]