Two arrested over inappropriate Facebook messages

Mother's male friend beats man who was suspected of sending her daughter messages of sexual nature through social media site.

police arrest handcuffs suspect cops criminal 311 (R) (photo credit: Benoit Tessier / Reuters)
police arrest handcuffs suspect cops criminal 311 (R)
(photo credit: Benoit Tessier / Reuters)
Two people were under arrest on Thursday following a violent confrontation between a mother, her male friend and a man suspected of communicating in an inappropriate manner with the mother’s daughter on Facebook.
The incident began earlier this week, a Tel Aviv police spokesman told The Jerusalem Post, when the woman became suspicious over the nature of communications between her 10-year-old daughter and the father of a girl who is acquainted with her daughter. “She noticed things which, even if not explicitly sexual, could be interpreted as suggestive of inappropriate content,” the spokesman said.
The mother communicated with the man on Facebook pretending to be her daughter, before identifying herself and demanding a meeting with him at a public park in Holon on Wednesday. She arrived at the park with a male friend, and confronted the father, who allegedly tried to assault her.
At this stage, police said, the mother’s friend launched a fierce assault on the father “which was completely disproportionate to the situation, and went far beyond defending the mother.”
The friend allegedly struck the father on the head repeatedly, causing serious injuries. The father was hospitalized on Wednesday, and remained in hospital on Thursday. Both men were arrested.
The father who communicated with the young girl on Facebook has no criminal record, according to the police.