Inset: Justin Stephens (Lauderdale County Detention Center). Background: Central High School in Florence, Alabama (WAFF/YouTube).
A 43-year-old man is accused of pretending to be a 15-year-old girl’s father in order to pick her up from an Alabama school where he took her to an abandoned house and “engaged in sexual intercourse.”
Justin Stephens is facing charges of second-degree rape with a victim between 12 and 15 years old, traveling to meet a child for sex and enticing a child. According to a complaint from the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office obtained by Law&Crime, Stephens called the Central High School in Florence on Sept. 18 and told staff the girl needed to be checked out.
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Surveillance cameras allegedly showed the girl entering his black Dodge truck around 9 a.m. and returning to the school around 2 p.m. The affidavit said Stephens took the girl to an abandoned house on County Road 222 where they “engaged in sexual intercourse.” Investigators later tracked Stephens to a hotel in nearby Colbert County where he allegedly admitted to the act. He also allegedly confessed to exchanging nude images with the girl on his phone. Stephens apparently traveled some 500 miles from his home in Lowmansville, Kentucky, to the school to pick up the girl.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Sgt. Josh Casson told Huntsville NBC affiliate WAFF the girl had a cellphone her parents did not know about and she apparently met Stephens on social media. Once the parents found the phone, they handed it over to investigators who uncovered messages between the two.
“Always monitor your kid’s social media,” Casson said. “Look at who they’re talking to and try to make sure their friends online are not friends they don’t know which is almost impossible in today’s world.”
The Lauderdale County School System sent out a statement saying it was aware of the incident and was cooperating with authorities. It declined to comment further. Stephens is in jail on a $365,000 bond. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
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