PHILADELPHIA — A 19-year-old Philadelphia man is accused of coercing a 13-year-old girl he met on TikTok to travel across the state, and sexually assaulting her multiple times, originally reported by our news partner WPXI.
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A woman called Greensburg police on March 14 to report her daughter missing after finding a note from her saying she ran away, according to WPXI.
Investigators tracked the 13-year-old’s cell phone to Philadelphia. Officers found the victim and took her to the police station until her mother arrived. WPXI says.
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The mother told police that she may have met a man online who had convinced her to travel across the state, but wasn’t sure how she would have made it there, according to WPXI.
When the mother and the victim were on their way home, the mother contacted police and told them her daughter had been talking to a man named Angel Lopez, 19, on TikTok, WPXI says. The mother said Lopez convinced her daughter to sneak out and take an Uber that Lopez had arranged and paid for, WPXI says.
The 13-year-old told officers that she and Lopez started texting each other and he started sending explicit content, WPXI says. She said Angel “loves her,” according to information from WPXI. She told authorities that when she arrived at Lopez’s apartment, he made her turn off her cell phone and take several hits from a “weed pen,” according to WPXI.
After that, the victim said Lopez assaulted her. Police said the victim described feeling uncomfortable and disgusted, and that she felt “weird” throughout the encounter, WPXI says.
When the victim asked to leave the apartment, WPXI says Lopez started using “manipulation tactics.” Lopez allegedly told the victim, “They won’t be able to find you anyway,” WPXI says.
The victim says she started to feel unsafe at the apartment, and pulled out strands of her hair and left them around the bedroom, hoping her DNA would be found later, according to WPXI.
The 13-year-old was able to escape, WPXI says. She told police she had second thoughts about traveling to see Lopez, but he told her he would harm himself if she didn’t go through with it, WPXI says.
Lopez was taken into custody and is facing dozens of charges, including kidnapping a minor, trafficking in individuals, statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with someone under 16.
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