National Defense

New Revelations Complicate Story Of Marine Accused Of Sexually Trafficking 14-Year-Old Girl: REPORT

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A Marine accused of trafficking a fourteen-year-old girl may have met her on Tinder, a popular app for people looking for dating or hook up partners, where she may have lied about being 22, according to Military.com.

Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) took the junior Marine into custody on June 28 and released him shortly after questioning about the underage girl found in his barracks room the day before. So far, NCIS and other agencies contributing to the investigation have found no evidence of human trafficking, and texts between the Marine and the girl show that the two met on Tinder, where the girl used a pseudonym and claimed to be an adult, Military.com reported, citing documents related to the investigation.

The Marine admitted to having sexual contact with the girl in his barracks room on June 27, the documents show, according to Military.com. A day prior he drove her onto the base apparently just hours after they first engaged on Tinder.

Investigators earlier concluded the girl was on Camp Pendleton for roughly 24 hours, although she had been missing for close to two weeks.

“The Marine was questioned by NCIS and released to his command pending further investigation,” Capt. Charles Palmer, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Logistics Group, told Military.com. A NCIS spokesperson said no charges have been filed nor arrests made in connection with the case.

In a second interview last week, the girl told NCIS agents she was kept locked up and sold for sex by a pimp who she could identify only by a first name, the documents seen by Military.com show. NCIS agents have looked into the trafficking claims but so far have found no supporting evidence.

The girl’s aunt, Casaundra Perez, posted a video on the social media platform TikTok accusing the Marine of participating in the girl’s trafficking and worried the installation would try to cover up the crime.

“Our family is worried about retaliation from the military and the man that has trafficked my niece,” Perez said in the video, adding that the girl has learning disabilities.

She also accused gate personnel of letting the victim on base without questioning.

Documents show that security guards requested the Marine and another servicemember ID themselves while passing through a vehicle checkpoint but not the girl, who was in the vehicle with them, according to Military.com. The Marine went to his barracks room, where his roommate was also present.

On June 28, the accused Marine and his roommate left the barracks room, and the roommate later returned and expelled the female victim. Two Navy corpsmen later found her wandering around the barracks building around 9 a.m.

She was moved to a separate location within an hour, and soon afterward NCIS agents arrived, entries in a barracks duty logbook show, according to Military.com.

@micronmaniac♬ original sound – Casaundra Perez

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department recorded the victim’s family last saw her on June 9, according to Military.com. Her family first reported her missing to law enforcement on June 13, NBC News reported.

The girl’s grandmother told officials the girl had run away from home several times in the past, according to the documents and NBC News.