A Long Beach man was arrested this week on suspicion of traveling with a 14-year-old Arizona runaway, whom he met on Reddit, across state lines to his apartment, where he performed sex acts with her, prosecutors said March 28.
Trevon Nathaniel Langstaff, 32, is charged with transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The girl’s family searched the neighborhood and contacted her friends for information. They found out that a week earlier, she had talked about running away, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, the girl told a friend that she had met a man—later identified as Mr. Langstaff—who helps runaways and had two other teens staying with him, and he promised to give her a phone and a place to stay.
Officers searched Mr. Langstaff’s Long Beach apartment early March 27 and found the victim hiding in a closet, the documents say.
The victim told officers that the two had engaged in sexual acts after they got to the apartment, prosecutors said.
Mr. Langstaff and the girl met on a Reddit forum designed for runaways, the documents say. A phone record search revealed numerous contacts between the two.
If found guilty, Mr. Langstaff could receive a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The FBI and the Long Beach Police Department are investigating the case.
