A Michigan man is facing two charges after the FBI discovered him with a missing 15-year-old from Ohio at a hotel earlier this month, according to a federal court document.
Chason Pointer, of Grand Blanc, Michigan, faces one count of transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.
According to an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Reddit alerted the FBI on April 3 about a conversation believed to involve a missing Ohio teen, who was later identified. The exchange took place between two users on March 30 and March 31.
One user claimed to be 18 years old and sent photos of themselves, the affidavit states. That same user said they lived in Ohio and used the missing teen’s first name.
Reddit reported that the conversation suggested the user who sent the photos traveled to meet the other individual for sex on March 30 before returning home the following day. The two later allegedly arranged to meet again at a hotel.
The affidavit indicates that after exchanging usernames, the conversation appeared to shift to Snapchat.
Through a records request, federal investigators determined that the IP address linked to the Reddit user who received the photos was registered with Comcast and subscribed to Pointer, according to the document.
Further investigation revealed that the phone number associated with that account also belonged to Pointer, the affidavit said.
A detective with the Sylvania Police Department in Ohio reported that the teen went missing between 11 p.m. on April 2 and 6 a.m. on April 3, according to the court filing. Authorities reviewed a Snapchat conversation between the teen’s account and another account later traced to Pointer’s IP address.
Investigators described the Snapchat messages as sexual in nature and said they indicated the two had recently engaged in a sexual act, according to the affidavit.
The court document states that federal agents examined Pointer’s call records, which showed his phone leaving his residence around 12:27 a.m. on April 3 and reaching the Toledo, Ohio area—where the teen lives—about two hours later.
Records later showed the phone traveling to a hotel in Fenton, Michigan. FBI agents went to the location and found Pointer and the teen walking together in a hallway.
Pointer told a federal agent that he met the teen through a Reddit chat group and claimed the teen was looking for a sugar daddy, the affidavit states. He admitted to picking the teen up in Toledo and bringing them to the hotel but denied knowing the teen was 15.
When agents asked how many times they had sexual contact, Pointer requested a lawyer, according to the affidavit.
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