U.K. Teen Reports Babysitter's 'Disturbing' Messages About Raping N.C. Child

March 3, 2010 — -- A British teenager who reported a sexually explicit online conversation to authorities may have saved a 5-year-old North Carolina girl from becoming a rape victim at the hands of her babysitter, according to a police report.

The 17-year-old U.K. teen, who is not identified in police documents, came forward last week to report instant messages from North Carolina college student James Carroll as "disturbing," the report states.

According to the teen's statement, outlined in a probable cause affidavit obtained by ABCNews.com, Carroll, 20, detailed his intentions of having sex with a young girl he was scheduled to babysit the following weekend.

The British authorities who received the complaint notified the U.S. Department of Justice who then reached out to the Cary Police Department, who on Feb. 25 arrested Carroll at his parents' home.

The U.K. teen told police that she had been chatting with Carroll for the past three years after they met in an online gaming chat room. The teen said that the conversations had only recently turned sexual after Carroll requested she send him nude pictures of herself, which she did, according to the affidavit.

The teen also admitted to police, according to the documents, that she had participated in online sex acts via a webcam with Carroll.

But when Carroll started "acting weird," according to the teen's statement to police, she became concerned.

"Basically, this guy is telling me he's going to have sex with an innocent 5-year-old girl that he babysat last night," the teen's statement reads. "He said he [was babysitting] with a friend so he couldn't do anything. However, on Saturday night, he says he will babysit her alone, so he can have sex with her."

Carroll had allegedly been planning to molest the young girl on Feb. 27, just two days after authorities arrested him.

Calls made to Carroll's home were not immediately returned, and when his mother, Brenda Carroll, was approached by ABC News' Raleigh affiliate WTVD, she had no comment.

It was not immediately known if Carroll had retained an attorney.

British Teen May Have Thwarted Five-Year-Old's Rape

The teen also provided authorities with a copy of her online conversation with Carroll, which graphically details Carroll's alleged intentions with the young girl.

Authorities confirmed that the screen name believed to be Carroll corresponds to an IP address at Carroll's Cary, N.C., home, and Capt. Michael Williams of the Cary Police Department said a search of the home and three family cars turned up child pornography.

"It was very noble for this [teen] to do what she did," said Williams. "She did something we ask people to do every day and not very many people come forward with these types of conversations on the Internet.

"She very possibly led to the safety of this 5-year-old," he said.

Carroll has been charged with six counts of 2nd degree sex exploitation of a minor.

If convicted on all six charges, Carroll could be sentenced to 12 to 23 years in prison, said Williams.