Missing Ohio teen found with Michigan man at Fenton hotel, FBI says
A Michigan man is facing two charges after the FBI found him with a missing 15-year-old Ohio resident at a hotel earlier this month, according to a federal court document.
Chason Pointer of Grand Blanc, Michigan, is charged with one count each of transporting an individual under 18 in interstate/foreign commerce or in U.S. territories with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and coercion and enticement of an individual under 18.
The affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan said Reddit on April 3 reported a conversation they believed was associated with a missing minor from Ohio, later identified as the teen, to the FBI. The conversation happened between two users of the online platform on March 30 and March 31.
One user said they were 18 years old and sent the other user pictures of themselves, the affidavit said. The user who sent the photos said they lived in Ohio and identified themselves by the missing teen's first name.
Reddit, according to the court document, said the conversation indicated the user who sent the photos drove to the other user for sex on March 30 before returning home the next day. The two then allegedly made plans to meet at a hotel.
The affidavit said the conversation appeared to move to Snapchat after the two individuals exchanged usernames.
Federal law enforcement through a records request learned the IP address associated with the Reddit user who received the photos had Comcast as the listed service provider and Pointer as the subscriber, according to the court document.
The FBI learned through further investigation that the phone number linked to the user who received the photos was associated with Pointer, the affidavit said.
A detective with the Sylvania Police Department in Ohio said the teen went missing between 11 p.m. on April 2 and 6 a.m. on April 3, the court document said. They looked through a Snapchat conversation involving the teen's account and an account with an IP address later traced to Pointer.
The Snapchat conversation was "sexual in nature" and indicated the two "recently had engaged in a sexual act," according to the affidavit.
The court document said federal law enforcement reviewed call records for Pointer's phone. It showed the device leaving his residence around 12:27 a.m. on April 3 and was in the area of Toledo, Ohio, where the teen lives, roughly two hours later.
According to the affidavit, records then showed Pointer's phone traveling to a hotel in Fenton, Michigan. The FBI went to the establishment and found Pointer and the teen walking in a hallway together.
Pointer told a federal agent he and the teen met online through a Reddit chat group and that the teen was "looking for a sugar daddy," the court document said. He admitted to picking up the teen in Toledo and bringing them to the hotel, and denied knowing they were 15 years old.
When asked how many times he and the teen had sexual contact, Pointer requested a lawyer, according to the affidavit.
If you know of a child who may have been a victim of exploitation, call the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 or visit the website.
