Aldie Man Charged with Soliciting Children Online

An Aldie man was arrested and charged Oct. 24 with five counts of using a computer to solicit a child under 15, according to a report from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

Someone on the Mercer Middle School staff alerted a member of the LCSO’s School Resource Officer Unit about suspicious activity on a student’s Facebook account. The student had accepted a “friend request” from someone she believed to be another middle school student named “Kyle Kirts.”

According to the LCSO report, parents of the student learned that “Kirts” solicited sexual activity from her and they contacted school staff in October. Staff then alerted the school resource officer, or SRO.

Upon investigation, members of the LCSO’s Criminal Investigations Unit determined that the account was fictitious and had been created by Robert B. Rennie Jr., 43, of Aldie. According to the report, Rennie was the sole user of the account.

LCSO investigators believe the suspect made contact with children primarily from Lunsford Middle School and Mercer Middle School, but he also appears to have accessed friends of the victims from their Facebook accounts; therefore, the LCSO report indicated that the suspect might have had contact with students from other schools. The suspects “friend list” contained primarily young girls, according to the report, and during chats, the suspect would lure the girls to a Skype account where they could communicate by video.

The investigation, which is ongoing, revealed several additional victims, so additional charges are possible.

Anyone who believes his or her child has had contact with “Kyle Kirts” or Robert Bruce Rennie Jr., should contact Detective P. Beaver of the LCSO’s Criminal Investigations Division at 703-777-0475.

Rennie remains held at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center without bond.

The previous information was supplied by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and, where charges were made, does not indicate a conviction. For questions about this article, email dusty@patch.com.