3 men arrested in sex trafficking of 13-year-old girl in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
A Kentucky man and two Pennsylvania men have been charged with the sex trafficking of a 13-year-old girl in Bucks County.
Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said Zachary Lee McCauley from Louisville, Kentucky, trafficked the teen girl in Bucks County after he met her on Snapchat.
Court documents detail how the 29-year-old used Snapchat to lure and groom the girl while he pretended to be a 17-year-old boy named "Jake."
"This case exemplifies just how long the reach is of a child sexual predator using these social media platforms," Schorn said. "I can assure you that currently this investigation is still very much active, and if there are additional victims, we will make sure that this individual is prosecuted for those crimes."
"He used grooming tactics to lower her inhibition, and then those tactics evolved into threatening to inflict harm upon her mother if she did not comply with his demands," she added.
Schorn said McCauley also instructed the girl to make a Grindr dating app profile, which is where 67-year-old Jon Van Ingen of Buckingham Township, Bucks County, and 42-year-old Randy Quinn of Coopersburg, Lehigh County, contacted her.
Investigators claim the two Pennsylvania men contacted the girl through the dating app and both sexually assaulted her multiple times, including at the Mainstreet Inn in Doylestown. Investigators said at least one of those incidents was recorded through a Snapchat video call.
"There was actually a third man who met with this child, and when he met her in person, it was immediately apparent that she was a child and that he did not engage in the sexual encounter that he intended to engage in," Schorn said.
Court documents reveal the girls' mother went to Buckingham Township Police in early October with her daughter's phone, iPad and MacBook after she walked in on her daughter "taking illicit videos/images of herself in her bedroom."
Then a few months later in February, the mother reached out to the Bucks County District Attorney's office after seeing a press conference related to a child predator case.
"I praise the mother in this case because her instincts were correct," Schorn said.
Schorn encouraged parents to continue an open dialogue with their children about online dangers and to look at their devices.
"This is unfortunately a theme we see time and time again, and you know these forums, it allows for these type of predators to really do so with anonymity, and it's quite frightening," Schorn said
Schorn said the two local defendants posted bail and are out on release.
McCauley is currently in custody in Kentucky and awaiting extradition, according to Schorn.
