Mom poses as 11-year-old daughter on Facebook to catch alleged predator

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — An accused child predator was arrested after a St. Petersburg mother did some undercover work using Facebook, WFTV found out Wednesday.

The mother, who does not want to be identified, said Michael Bradley, 23, was sending her 11-year-old daughter raunchy messages.

The mother found them when she checked her daughter's phone and realized she had created a Facebook account without her mother's permission.

The mother said she took the evidence to police, but they said it wasn't enough to make an arrest.

She then went undercover and posed as her daughter on Facebook.

"I got to go the extra mile. I have got to take the extra steps to make sure my child is safe," she said. "I feel like I didn't have a choice, and if I had to do it all over again, I would."

The mom got Bradley to send explicit photos which was enough for police to charge him with preying on a child.

Bradley was jailed on $120,000 bail.

WFTV