Marshall County authorities say a man posing as his child lured another man to his home in Arab to be arrested this month after the child began receiving text messages.

Sheriff Phil Sims said Tanner Allen, 22, of Athens, has been charged with electronic solicitation of a child. More charges could follow, he said.

Sims said investigators received a call Jan. 28 from a man who said his child was receiving inappropriate text messages from an unknown person.

According to Sims, the father pretended to be the child and the person texting agreed to come to the Arab home for a meeting “of an intimate nature.”

When Allen arrived at the home, Sims said, deputies were waiting nearby and took him into custody.

“The dangers of social media and phone apps are ever present in today’s society,” Sims said. “I encourage parents to check your teenager’s phones for any kind of suspicious activity. Also, install parental controls on their phones to block illicit communications and activity from sexual predators.”

Allen is being held in the Marshall County Jail on $100,000 bond.