A 25-year-old Florida man is facing sexual assault charges against a minor after allegedly preying on a 17-year-old San Antonio girl, on the pretenses that he was a 19-year-old “Instagram famous” celebrity who would take care of her. Police say Richard Brown paid over $800 in Uber rides to transport the teen the 16-hour drive to his parents’ home in Apopka—just northwest of Orlando—where he then raped her over the course of three nights, according to BuzzFeed News.
When the girl got to Brown’s home on Sunday, she quickly realized that he wasn’t who he claimed to be, but reluctantly agreed to stay with him after he pressured her due to the fact that he had paid for her ride. “You owe me now for bringing you all the way here,” Brown was said to have told the victim, according to Boston 25 News.
She was finally able to escape the home on Wednesday after Brown fell asleep, and while communicating with her mother on Snapchat. When authorities located her, however, she apparently wasn’t able to point out which home belonged to Brown or what his social media handle was.
“You might never know about it and now the cops are here,” one incredulous neighbor told Fox 35 News. “That’s crazy for the parents.”
For his part, Brown is contesting the charges, stating that he believed the victim to have been over the age of 18 and that they were “just friends” and he was simply providing her with a place to stay. His attorney is claiming inconsistencies with the girl’s story.
“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,” his attorney said.
Brown is now facing six felony counts of child sex abuse including three charges of performing a sexual act on a 16- or 17-year-old child, three charges of sexual battery on a child aged 12-17, as well as one charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
H/T BuzzFeed News
