A preschool teacher was able to save two children while aboard a Southwest Airlines flight, after seeing horrific messages from a man sitting in front of her.
According to the San Jose Police department, 56-year old Michael Keller was texting on his smartphone with large font, when the woman realized that the text messages involved young children being sexually abused. The woman discreetly took photos of his screen and reported the case to airline staff.
“It was in large font, and she sees certain words and starts contemplating there’s something bigger there. Then the conversation transitions to children. That’s the moment when she decided to preserve the evidence as best as she could,” San Jose sex-crimes detective Nick Jourdenais told Mercury News.
Upon the landing of the flight, a flight attendant notified police about the situation. Keller was arrested at the airport.
Authorities found that Keller was actually texting Gail Burnworth, who was babysitting the two young children.
BuzzFeed reports that the texts allegedly included requests for Burnworth to sexually abuse the children. She has since been arrested, as well.
Keller was charged with two counts of attempted child molestation and two counts of solicitation of a sex crime. Burnworth was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, rape of a child in the first degree, and dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to the police report.
The preschool teacher who alerted the police about the text messages has been acknowledged as a hero, however, she plans to remain anonymous.
