Mother tells Elk Grove City Council police failed to respond to evidence in alleged teen exploitation case

A mother told the Elk Grove City Council on Wednesday night that repeated attempts to provide police with evidence related to the alleged sexual exploitation of her 16-year-old son went unanswered for weeks.

Speaking during the public comment period for non-agenda items at the March 11 council meeting, Jennifer Colton described discovering what she said were thousands of sexually explicit messages sent to her son from an apparent adult male. She said the messages were found on a phone she turned over to the Elk Grove Police Department in December.

“Imagine you are holding your 16-year-old child’s phone and it suddenly starts going off,” Colton told the council. “When you finally unlock the phone, you discover extremely graphic sexual messages being sent to your child from what appears to be an adult man.”

Colton said the messages included requests for explicit photos and other graphic content. She told council members the situation escalated in the weeks that followed, including incidents where her son ran away from home.

According to Colton, the original phone containing the messages was turned over to Elk Grove police on Dec. 15. She said her son was reported missing again on Jan. 30.

Colton told the council that when her son returned to school on Feb. 2, she went to the Elk Grove Police Department seeking help and guidance but was told no one was available to speak with her and that she should call a detective line and leave a message.

After waiting nearly two hours in the police department lobby, Colton said she sent an email to the department’s professional standards address. She later went across the street to Elk Grove City Hall, where a receptionist helped her contact someone at the police department.

Colton said Detective Musa briefly spoke with her and outlined a plan for next steps, including having detectives meet her at her home.

“No one ever came and I never received a follow-up,” Colton said.

She told the council she continued trying to contact investigators in the weeks that followed, leaving multiple messages on detective lines and voicemails for a police sergeant, as well as sending additional emails requesting help.

Colton said she discovered a second phone that she believes contains additional evidence related to the alleged exploitation and has been trying to turn it over to investigators.

“I still have this phone that needs to be turned over as evidence,” she said. “I have received no response.”

Colton also told council members that whatever occurred on the second phone was serious enough that her son later attempted to take his own life and spent eight days in a behavioral health facility.

“I understand this is not television. I understand investigations take time,” Colton said. “But I do not believe it is too much to ask for basic communication with a parent who is trying to turn over evidence in a case involving sexual exploitation of a minor.”

Colton also raised concerns about whether her case would have received more attention under different circumstances.

“As a parent of a 16-year-old Black son, I can’t help but wonder whether I’d be seeing the same level of silence if I had a 16-year-old white, blond-haired, blue-eyed female,” she said.

Following her remarks, Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen addressed Colton from the dais and said the matter would be reviewed.

“This is the first time hearing about this,” the Mayor said. “Please stay in touch with me directly so that I can make sure you have what you need.”

The official also said the city’s police chief, who was in attendance, would meet with Colton regarding her concerns.

The Elk Grove Police Department had not publicly commented on the allegations as of Wednesday night.