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A 13-year-old teenager who had disappeared about a week ago in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was found alive this Friday (10/31) by police officers inside a box covered with a sheet in the basement of a house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — more than 1,600 kilometers from home.
The suspect, identified as Ki-Shawn Crumity, aged 26, was arrested and charged with human trafficking, sexual assault/Photo: Reproduction
The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Ki-Shawn Crumity, was arrested and charged with human trafficking, sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of a minor.
The operation was conducted by agents from the Special Victims Unit of the Pittsburgh Police Department, with support from investigators from the FBI and the Pennsylvania State Police, as it was a case of interstate trafficking of minors.
According to the investigation, she was lured through the Snapchat app by Crumity, who convinced her to travel alone by promising “adoption by a trusted adult”.
The investigation also indicates that the girl traveled by bus from Baton Rouge to Washington DC and then to Pittsburgh, where she was held in private prison. Police believe Crumity used social media to identify and manipulate vulnerable victims.
According to the police report, the teenager was doped with marijuana edibles and sexually assaulted during the period she remained in captivity. She was located after an anonymous tip that led agents to the suspect’s residence, in the Brighton Heights neighborhood, in Pittsburgh.
Crumity was arrested and charged with human trafficking, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors. Another man, Ronald Smith, 62, from New Orleans, was also arrested on suspicion of involvement in transporting the teenager between states.
Authorities said further arrests could be made in the coming days. The girl is under medical care and will receive psychological support and specialized protection.
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