Man accused of luring 13-year-old via TikTok, paid to Uber her hundreds of miles
A man has been arrested after allegedly purchasing an Uber from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia for a 13-year-old who he is accused of sexually assaulting multiple times.
Police have arrested 19-year-old Angel Lopez on multiple charges.
According to police, the mother of the victim first contacted Greensburg Police on March 14 after finding her daughter had left her a note stating she ran away.
Authorities were able to determine the victim was in Philadelphia through cellphone location data.
The girl was found by police in Philadelphia and then picked up by her mother. The mother told police during this time she believed the man, later identified as Lopez, coerced her daughter into traveling to the city after meeting him on social media.
According to the complaint, as the mother was heading back from Philadelphia with her daughter she called authorities again.
After meeting Lopez through TikTok, the victim said Lopez persuaded her to sneak out of the house and to meet an Uber to Philadelphia that he paid for, the criminal complaint states.
When the girl arrived at his house, she said he sexually assaulted her, the report continues.
Video below: Mother of teen who police say was kidnapped, sexually assaulted speaks about incident
Det. Sgt. Justin Scalzo, with Greensburg Police, said he does not believe this is the first time Lopez did something like this.
"He did not want her to take any electronic devices with her to Philly. And then one text message stated, I want you to leave no trace behind," he said.
When authorities interviewed the victim, she told them that Lopez first asked her to send her explicit content when they began texting and told her he loved her before he paid for the Uber.
According to the criminal complaint, Lopez began sexually assaulting the 13-year-old when she arrived at his apartment.
The complaint also alleges, while with Lopez, the victim was told to turn off her phone.
Video below: Officials share update following arrest
The victim told authorities when she told Lopez she wanted to leave, he allegedly said "They won't be able to find you anyway."
According to the complaint, the girl said she felt "weird" throughout the encounter and then became scared for her safety. With the fear, the girl told police she scattered strands of her hair in places throughout the bedroom in hopes her DNA would be found.
"He had mentioned to her that nobody would ever find her. And that was concerning. And that actually prompted the, the victim in this case, to pull out strands of her hair and try to leave them around the apartment, saying that later that if nobody found her, maybe they could at least find her DNA," Scalzo said.
The girl said she escaped the man's home when she heard someone in the apartment complex hallway. She told police if Lopez decided to come after her, she hoped the person in the hallway would call the police.
Scalzo said this situation acts as a warning for parents to monitor their children's social media.
"You have to be cautious of exactly what your teenagers and young children are doing and who is befriending them on some of these social media apps because it doesn't take long sometimes for a predator to brainwash them into doing something that they normally wouldn't do," he said.
Officials say Lopez was taken into custody in Philadelphia and is being charged with a number of offenses, including kidnapping, sexual abuse of a minor and trafficking.
Lopez is back in Westmoreland County. An online docket showed that he is being held without bail, and a preliminary hearing is set for April 10.
