A man in North Carolina is facing charges after a missing 15-year-old girl from Iowa was reportedly transported across multiple state lines and found more than 900 miles away in North Carolina.
John Michael Johnson, 25, has been charged with felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and felony solicitation by computer, local news station KTVO reported.
Newsweek contacted the Fairfield Police Department in Iowa and the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
The Context
The girl was reported missing in Fairfield, Iowa, over the weekend. Deputies located her at an address in Reidsville, North Carolina, with Johnson.
What To Know
Investigators with the Fairfield Police Department discovered the girl had been communicating with a man via messaging apps.
Authorities believed she was picked up by the man in Fairfield and taken to Rockingham County in North Carolina.
The police department requested deputies in Rockingham County check an address in Reidsville for the missing girl. Deputies with the county sheriff’s office found the girl at the address with Johnson.
The girl was placed in the care of the Rockingham County Department of Social Services until she could be reunited with her parents.
What People Are Saying
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told KTVO that the case should serve as an “eye opener” about how technology can be used to target children.
Page said: “Individuals will use current technologies such as messaging applications and other internet accessible means to not only conduct scams, but to also exploit, and prey on our children. We are seeing this activity far too often now. I would implore parents to be vigilant and involved in monitoring cellphone and internet usage by their children.”
The girl’s mother, identified only as Jessica, told the station: “She was in his car without a phone for 14 hours and went through like six states, and she was just really scared. She was really happy when the police showed up. I’m just so happy that it ended the way that it did, such a positive way, her being able to come home, because my worst fears were going through my head.”
She also urged other parents to “be proactive in talking to your kids about that kind of thing, like safety. Go through their phone, because I hadn’t been.”
What’s Next
Johnson is scheduled to appear in Rockingham County District court on August 26. His bond was set at $850,000.
The investigation is active and ongoing.
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