Man Admits To Raping 14-Year-Old Adoptive Daughter Who Later Ran Away To Escape Abuse

A Tennessee man admitted to raping his adoptive teen daughter who later ran away to escape the abuse, authorities have said.

Randall Pruitt, 43, of Madisonville, pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of rape. The sexual assault came to light after Pruitt's 14-year-old adoptive daughter went missing in January 2019. She was found weeks later with 32-year-old Bryan Rogers from Wisconsin.

According to court records, the teen girl told her mother about the abuse but the mother refused to believe her. The girl then met Rogers on an online gaming platform and revealed her ordeal to him.

Rogers promised to help the girl run away but asked her to send the video of the rape first. The teen girl then recorded a video of the abuse and sent it to Rogers, who later picked her up from her Tennessee home.

"Pruitt and his wife lied to law enforcement about her running away. They also destroyed a letter where she detailed Pruitt's crimes. His daughter sent copies of the recording to law enforcement and this led to the case being brought," District Attorney General said in a news release Monday.

To avoid being tracked after running away, Rogers destroyed the teen's cell phone. He also avoided tollways and gas stations on the way back to his home in Madison, Wisconsin. The FBI joined the search for the missing teen and finally found her weeks later in Roger's custody, reported News Channel 9.

Rogers was sentenced to 11 years in prison in September 2019 on federal charges of bringing a minor across state lines for sex.

The girl's mother was sentenced to four years after she pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence. She spent 60 days in jail and will serve the remainder of her sentence on probation, WATE 6 On Your Side said in a report.

"These cases are heartbreaking. We just celebrated Father's Day and then to follow that with an example of someone who has betrayed the most fundamental human decency towards a child is just heartbreaking," Steve Crump, 10th Judicial District District Attorney General, said.

The court has scheduled Pruitt's sentencing for August 27.

"There are no winners in cases like this, but I do feel like justice has been done and it’s at a minimum of cost, additional cost, to the victim," Crump added.