A Porter County man is in custody after, according to court documents, he sent sexually explicit texts to a 17-year-old boy who was staying at the Porter home where he sometimes stayed.

Dereck Patrick Moore, 38, who sometimes stayed at a home in Porter and at a motel in Portage where he was later arrested, is charged with attempted child exploitation, a Level 5 felony.

Police arrested Moore on Monday and he was slated for an initial hearing Tuesday before Porter Superior Court Judge Mary DeBoer. He remained in custody Tuesday afternoon according to online jail records.

The teenager contacted Porter Police on September 14 and told them that Moore had been living at her house and had become friends with the child’s mother, who invited Moore to live with them as needed.

“(The victim) disclosed that Dereck sent sexually explicit text messages to (the teen’s) phone on several occasions and asked (the victim) to send Dereck nude images of herself,” according to records from the court

“(The victim) stated that she never followed through with the photo request. However, (the teenager) has several (young) male friends who received similar messages from Dereck.

In addition to the explicit text messages, court documents say Moore provided the teenager with money to buy clothes, shoes, food and finance entertainment.

“(The victim) stated that he never had sexual contact with Dereck, but that he took him up on several offers to receive money,” the documents state.

After police took Moore into custody at the Days Inn, 6161 Melton Road, he told investigators he knew the boy and one of his friends were both at the high school and acknowledged that he lived upstairs at Porter for “more than a year” and used residence as a mailing address.

He told police, according to court documents, that he often gave money to the teenager because the boy was not rich like the rest of his friends.

A brief search of Moore’s phone, conducted with his consent, revealed “multiple photos and videos” of naked males “in a sexual manner,” although no face was visible. Police intend to conduct a more thorough search of Moore’s phone as part of the investigation.