Raleigh teen takes cellphone pic of man who allegedly solicited sex

The 13-year-old boy, who just got off a school bus, was walking home on the 900 block of Wake Towne Drive when a man drove up to him and asked for sex.

The boy refused the request, investigators said, and the man – possibly in his 60s or 70s – drove away in a tan or silver sedan.

But not before the teen used his cellphone to take a picture of him.

“Which is, of course, we hope a valuable piece of information in this case and we hope it leads detectives to identify a suspect,” said Jim Sughrue, Raleigh police spokesman.

Investigators said they do not believe the Feb. 21 incident is related to a similar encounter at Broughton High School on March 5, when a student said two men in a silver hatchback approached him on campus and asked him to get inside.

That case is still under investigation, police said.

Neighbors are still shocked over last month’s incident.

“I used to work as a child protective services investigator in Virginia so I know well what can happen,” said Lucille Zalinski, who lives nearby. “Just to think that somebody had the nerve to do something like that to a child.”