News footage of suspect Angel Lopez entering court (WTAE).
A Pennsylvania man allegedly used TikTok to lure a 13-year-old girl across the state and hold her captive in his apartment, where he sexually assaulted her — and she was so scared for her life that she tried to leave traces of her DNA behind.
Angel Lopez, 19, appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on Thursday following his arrest in March on charges of kidnapping, trafficking, and sexually assaulting. According to Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli, Lopez started communicating with the 13-year-old girl on TikTok for just a few days before allegedly convincing her to leave her parents’ home in an Uber he paid for.
When she arrived at his apartment, he allegedly sexually assaulted her. When she told Lopez wanted to leave, she told police that he said, “They won’t be able to find you anyway.”
The DA stated that Lopez told the girl to write a note to her family telling them that she was “running away from home” and to “not look for her.” After exchanging 1,862 printed pages worth of text messages with the girl on TikTok over the course of just four days, he then allegedly ordered and paid for an Uber to take the girl from her home in Greenberg, Pennsylvania, to his apartment in Philadelphia.
According to the DA, she was reported missing by her family on March 14. Police pinged her phone to a location near Lopez’s apartment.
Upon her arrival, she was told to turn off her phone. At a press conference covered by WTAE, a local ABC affiliate, Greenburg Police Det. Sgt. Justin Scalzo stated that Lopez “did not want her to take any electronic devices with her to Philly. And then one text message stated, ‘I want you to leave no trace behind.””
Once inside Lopez’s residence, the DA said that he allegedly “offered her drugs” before sexually assaulting her. He then allegedly instructed her to take a shower to wash off any traces of his DNA.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by WTAE, the girl told police that she felt “weird” during her entire alleged encounter with Lopez. She reportedly told police that when she told Lopez that she wanted to leave, his response was, “They won’t be able to find you anyway.”
Scalzo said, “[T]hat was concerning. And that actually prompted the victim in this case to pull out strands of her hair and try to leave them around the apartment, saying that later that if nobody found her, maybe they could at least find her DNA.”
The DA said that the girl was eventually able to escape the apartment after hearing someone in the outside hallway. Police were able to locate her after she was out of Lopez’s apartment and brought her to a station nearby, where she was later picked up by a relative. She is now back at home and safe.
Lopez now faces numerous felony charges including kidnapping a minor, trafficking, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 16, unlawful contact of a minor, interference with child custody, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault of a child, sexual abuse of a child, corruption of minors, and criminal use of a communication facility.
He remains in custody at Westmoreland County Prison. His next court date is May 14.
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