Man faces charges for transporting missing teenager from Nipomo to Mexico, intent of illicit sexual activity
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A Southern California man will appear in court on Wednesday after he posed online as a teenage boy and transported a missing teenager girl into Mexico from Nipomo with the alleged intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The man, a 38-year-old from Victorville, and a woman accomplice allegedly drove the 15-year-old girl to Tijuana on July 1 – the day before the girl's quinceañera, according to Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney's Office.
The man and woman drove into Mexico with the girl hidden in the backseat, Mrozek said.
The teenage girl is originally from Arizona and was spending the summer visiting family in Nipomo. She was reported missing on the day of her disappearance and was rescued from a house in Tijuana by Mexican authorities on Monday, according to Mrozek.
The man was named in a federal criminal complaint on Monday night, which also named the woman, a 20-year-old from Garden Grove, for allegedly helping the man contact minors, Mrozek said.
The two were arrested on Sunday night pursuant to state court warrants as they entered the U.S. from Mexico – 10 days after allegedly bringing the victim there.
The man allegedly had an online relationship with the victim over the past year, and a review of his Instagram found messages where he professed his love for the girl and discussed having sex with her in order to get her pregnant, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states that the man used social media to try and convince one of the girl's relatives to run away with him and that he tried to entice other teenage girls to send him sexual images.
The two suspects will appear in court on Wednesday and face federal charges, including the charge of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity with a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a potential sentence of life without parole.