KENNEWICK, Wash. (TCD) — A 20-year-old man was taken into custody on suspicion of raping a 12-year-old girl he allegedly picked up in Idaho and brought back to his home.
According to court documents cited by KNDU-TV, on March 20, Benton County Sheriff’s Office deputies went to Austin Holbrook’s home in Kennewick after learning a missing or runaway juvenile from Nampa, Idaho, was likely at his residence. When deputies went inside, they located the missing 12-year-old and placed her in protective custody until her mother could get there.
Nampa and Kennewick are about 270 miles away from each other.
KNDU reports Holbrook told deputies he met the girl on a dating app and they started messaging. The victim allegedly snuck out of her house and left with Holbrook, who picked her up sometime around March 14 or March 15. The victim reportedly said she and Holbrook had sex several times and that he had also been messaging some of her friends.
He allegedly claimed the victim told him she was 18 years old.
The Idaho Statesman reports Holbrook hid the girl in his room at his parents’ house. She reportedly appeared malnourished and dehydrated.
Following the arrest, Nampa Police sent out an alert for parents of teens and preteens advising them about Holbrook, writing, “We have reason to believe juveniles that have been talking online with Holbrook may have been pressured to meet up with him, and our greatest fear is he has convinced some to actually do just that.”
Police said Holbrook “preyed on a Nampa child, and that interaction started with him engaging in online conversation.”
Records show he was booked into the Benton County Jail on two counts of rape of a child and one count of unlawful imprisonment. His bond was set at $500,000.
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Tyler Mitchell