Man Allegedly Lured, Sexually Abused Minor Girl By Posing As Instagram Celebrity

A man from Florida was charged with sexual battery on Saturday for allegedly hiring a driver to transport an underage girl from Texas to his home. He held the girl captive for three days.

According to an affidavit, Richard Brown, 25, allegedly convinced the girl that he was “Instagram famous” and could take care of her. He met her on Instagram pretending to be a 19-year-old celebrity and chatted with her for several months before he persuaded the 17-year-old girl to visit him at his house in Apopka, near Orlando, Florida.

He also allegedly paid more than $800 to arrange a car that took her from her home in San Antonio, Texas. He convinced her to take an Uber cab from San Antonio to Baton Rouge where she changed cars to get to Apopka.

On reaching the place, the girl realized Brown wasn’t who she was made to believe he was. However, he claimed she "owed him for bringing her out there.” He allegedly sexually abused the girl numerous times. He also took drugs including cocaine while the girl was in his home, offering some to her as well. The girl alleged that she was raped over the course of three nights when she was reported missing in Texas.

The girl managed to escape Brown’s captivity three days later when he had fallen asleep after taking the drugs. She left the house and video called her mother while trying to walk to a near-by fire-station. She also called 911 and was rescued by police. When the police arrived at the spot where the girl was, she was unable to point out Brown’s house, neither was she able to tell them what his social media handle was. The man was arrested on Thursday.

However, Brown denied taking the drugs or raping the girl. He said the girl was his friend and that he thought she was 18 years old and needed a place to stay. He showed the investigators the receipts for the Uber rides he paid for the girl to travel from Texas to Florida. According to the affidavit, Brown claimed he and the girl were “only friends and nothing more” and they “never had any type of sexual contact.”

According to Brown’s attorney, there were several inconsistencies in the affidavit and the girl’s claims. “We see several inconsistencies with this affidavit. The victim said to police she met Mr. Brown through Instagram but somehow her account was hacked, couldn’t download the messages to show police,” he said, local news channel WOFL reported.

Brown faced three charges of sexual battery on a child aged 12-17, and one charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was held at Orange County Jail on a $40,000 bond. The Florida police and the Florida Department of Children and Families were investigating the case.

In November 2018, a man from Frederick County, Maryland, used Snapchat to lure a 12-year-old girl into a sexual encounter at his home. Police arrested 36-year-old John Warren Compton who pretended to be a 14-year-old on Snapchat to chat with a 12-year-old for about a month before he picked her up from her house and allegedly had sex with her. He faced several charges including second-degree rape, third-degree sex offense and fourth-degree sex offense and solicitation of a minor. He was jailed without a bond.