RIPLEY — A Columbus man and Jackson County woman were arrested last month after separate incidents involving the solicitation of a minor and drug sales.

On March 12, Jackson County Deputy Sheriff L.M. Casto responded to Statts Road in Ripley after a call reporting an out of control 13-year-old, according to a criminal complaint filed with the Jackson County Magistrate Court.

The 13-year-old in question was the female victim who was allegedly talking to Marcel Douglas Penick, 29, 11 Belvidere Ave., Columbus, and their conversations were of a sexual nature, the complaint said.

She lives with her grandmother and refused to hand over her phone for a punishment which was the reason law enforcement was contacted, the complaint said.

The victim admitted to Casto that she had been talking to older men on her phone and that was the reason she didn’t want to give her grandmother the phone, according to the complaint.

She admitted to sending nude photos to men over the age of 18 and said she received explicit photos and videos from them, the complaint said.

Casto got permission to look through her phone and found Facebook messages from a profile name “Douggle Gottem,” who said he was going to come to West Virginia to pick her up and take her to Atlanta, the complaint said.

The victim said sometimes the older men would offer her money for nude photos even though they knew she was under 18; messages were seen on the phone to confirm this, the complaint said.

In the conversation with “Douggle Gottem,” were several nude photos and videos of him performing sexual acts on himself, according to the complaint.

As law enforcement was trying to find out who “Douggle Gottem” was, the victim told them during a phone conversation, he told her he would pick her up for Atlanta between the dates of March 24 and April 1, the complaint said.

Officers were able to identify “Douggle Gottem” as Penick and it was confirmed through the photos and his driver’s license, the complaint said.

Through a controlled message conducted by law enforcement, Penick told them his plan to cross state lines to pick up the victim, the complaint said.

Penick is being charged with two counts of soliciting a minor via computer, distribution or displaying obscene matter to a minor and the use of obscene matter with the intent to seduce a minor.

He is being held at South Central Regional Jail on a $120,000 surety bond.

Another in Jackson County was arrested after a search warrant resulting in a drug seizure.

Officers searched the home of Alisha Spears, 29, at 16 Meadowlark Road in Ripley on April 19, according to a criminal compliant filed with the Jackson County Magistrate Court.

Inside the home was more than five grams of fentanyl, two sets of digital scales, methamphetamine and other items related to drug sales, the complaint said.

Spears’ identification card was found inside the safe where the drugs were hidden, according to the compliant.

Spears was driving back to her house when she was pulled over; when the officers asked if she had any drugs in the vehicle, she said “no, it was all in the safe,” the complaint said.

She is being charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance.

According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are likely.