An Ellwood City man, suspicious of his neighbor’s relationship with a 12 year old girl, checked the state’s Megan’s Law list and discovered the man was a registered sex offender. Shortly after the neighbor reported the perpetrator to the local police, the victim disclosed that Samuel Edward Ross, 46, had assaulted her. The AP reported that the girl’s parents knew that Ross had a criminal record but were unaware it was for molesting a 13-year-old New Castle girl in 2003.

An AT&T employee at the Christiana Mall in Delaware reported to authorities that a customer had child pornography on his cell phone. The employee had been transferring data from the man’s Blackberry to his new iPhone and discovered the images including one of a young girl being raped. Police found additional child pornography on the man’s laptop. The suspect admitted that the images were his.

You can read more about these heroes in the articles below:

Curious neighbor alerts police to Pa. rape suspect

Ellwood City sex offender accused of raping girl, 12

Collingdale man faces kid-porn charges after AT&T worker transferring photos to new phone spots images & alerts police

Citizens such as these help law enforcement catch child abusers. PCAR would like to commend these two individuals for what they did and encourage others who suspect or discover that a child is being abused to do the same.

You can report suspected child sexual abuse by calling 911, local police or the state’s ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313.

If you aren’t sure what to do, but suspect a child is in danger, you can talk about your concerns to a specially trained counselor by calling the HERO Project Hotline at 1-877-874-HERO. You can visit the HERO Project web site at www.heroproject.org.

It’s everyone’s responsibility to protect our children. Become a hero today. You may be an abused child’s only hope.

The HERO Project is a program of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape in conjunction with the Vision of Hope.