BRUNSWICK, Ohio — This is a story that is sure to send chills up the spine of some parents. Brunswick police say 43-year-old Timothy Nielsen traveled from Gresham, Oregon to Brunswick, Ohio to find a young girl.
“It could have ended tragically,” said Lt Robert Safran, Brunswick Police Department.
Police believe Nielsen was a man on a malicious mission.
“Mr. Nielsen found his way to Ohio and almost located the girl,” said Safran.
The story started unfolding after several residents called 911 to report a suspicious barefoot man with a tarp prowling around their neighborhood. When police arrived, they found Nielsen, but they still didn’t know the connection to the girl until her dad called police. “He was able to put two and two together when he saw officers out front with Mr. Nielsen in custody. That’s when he called our dispatch and relayed, I think I know who this gentleman is,” added Safran.
Police said Nielsen saw the then 8-year-old girl on her YouTube channel five years ago. “It was an arts and crafts type channel, and Mr. Nielsen began commenting on the YouTube comments portion and they were inappropriate in nature. The parents of the juvenile realized that and shut the page down,” he said. But he was not deterred.
Police said he started cyberstalking the girl.
Then last month, police said he traveled to Brunswick. Not only finding the city the girl lives in, but the neighborhood. “He was there to find this girl,” said Safran. “Mr. Nielsen went to several houses in the neighborhood knocking on doors attempting to locate her,” he said.
Police discovered evidence he was living in the woods very near her home. Police credit neighbors for seeing something and saying something. “This would have ended tragically had the individuals on the street not called and contacted us to check out a suspicious person,” Safran said. Police encourage parents to monitor their children's social media accounts and contacts.
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