A San Diego teen—whose previous disappearance last summer led to a sex scandal involving a U.S. Marine—has been reported missing again, just two weeks before she’s expected to appear at court.
The girl was previously reported missing, but was later found June 28 in the barracks at Camp Pendleton, the U.S. Marine Corps base in San Diego, by military police.
Shortly after, Private First Class Avery Rosario was charged with several alleged violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice—the military’s code of law—including sexual assault of a minor.
The teen’s family has claimed, according to media outlets, she is a victim of sex trafficking and has been raped, while Mr. Rosario says the two met on a dating app where she used a pseudonym and claimed to be 21 years old, and later they engaged in consensual sex.
According to attorneys for Mr. Rosario, they are drafting a motion that would require her testimony at a preliminary hearing currently scheduled for Feb. 12.
Jocelyn Stewart, an attorney for Mr. Rosario, said the girl’s most recent disappearance shows a “pattern of behavior.”
She also said that Mr. Rosario had been “confined” since Aug. 1.
“If the defense learns that prosecutors were aware that she was missing but failed to disclose that information, we are confident that the courts will provide appropriate redress. Above all, we are deeply committed to ensuring that the military will uphold a defendant’s right to confront his accuser,” Ms. Steward said in a Jan. 29 statement.
Mr. Rosario will face a 10-day court martial in the case beginning April 16. He has not yet entered a plea.
