He drove 150 miles to ‘hook up’ with a teen. This 77-year-old came prepared, police say

A 77-year-old Spokane man sent a cellphone to a 13-year-old girl he met online, telling the teen it came with a price and she could pay up at a future date.

Then, after carrying on a text-messaging relationship for nearly two months, Robert C. Fischbach drove 150 miles to Richland to “hook up” with the girl, court documents show.

Fischbach told the teen he was visiting the Tri-Cities specifically for her, but that he gave another excuse to his wife because she sometimes “is looking over my shoulder,” documents said.

Fischbach discovered after he was arrested Tuesday at their meeting spot that the girl really was an undercover detective.

He is in the Benton County jail on $150,000 bail on suspicion of attempted second-degree rape of a child and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

Prosecutors have until Friday to file charges in Benton County Superior Court or release him from custody.

Social media and text conversations

A detective with the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was working an undercover operation in Post Falls, Idaho, when he made an online post as an underage girl looking for someone to treat her as an adult.

The Feb. 9 post soon began getting responses, and one person moved the conversation from the social media app to text messaging.

Investigators discovered the number belonged to Fischbach, according to court documents.

Over the next two months, the detective allegedly made it clear that the girl was 13 as Fischbach talked about giving sensual massages and making love.

Fischbach asked if the girl was a virgin and whether they could meet at her aunt’s Post Falls home during the day.

He also shared links to two adult pornography sites, talked about taking Viagra, asked if the girl’s parents could see their chats and expressed that he was fearful of going to jail, documents said.

Cellphone gift

When he sent the cellphone as a gift, Fischbach allegedly explained that it came with a cost, and that wasn’t money.

He told the girl on Monday that he was going to drive to the Tri-Cities to visit her, and confirmed that if he made the two-hour trip she would be able to get away, court documents show.

Fischbach tried to calm the girl’s nerves about getting together by telling her that she could not get pregnant with him and that he is drug- and disease-free, documents said.

He also allegedly told the girl to wear “nothing” when they met, and had a pill suspected to be Viagra on him at the time of his arrest.

This story was originally published April 4, 2019 at 12:40 PM.