A Gwinnett County man who allegedly drove more than 700 miles to pick up a 14-year-old girl he met online has been arrested after bringing her to Georgia.
The 23-year-old man is facing rape and interference-with-custody charges.
It was a case of "he said, she said," according to police reports obtained by the AJC. The teen, who lives in Hope, Ark., told Felipe Nunez-Martinez she was 17 when she met him online, police said. Nunez-Martinez, in turn, told the girl he was 20 years old.
The two had exchanged text messages and the teen, whose name was not released, told Nunez-Martinez her address, according to police. On Dec. 22, Nunez-Martinez drove a pickup truck from Norcross to Arkansas, where he picked up the girl at her home.
From there, the pair headed toward Georgia, spending one night in an Arkansas hotel before arriving back at Nunez-Martinez's apartment on Dec. 23, police said.
"Mr. Nunez-Martinez stated that he had sexual intercourse with (the teen) because he loved her very much," the police report states.
In Arkansas, local police began searching for the girl, who was reported as missing and a possible runaway. At some point while in the man's apartment, the teen used her cell phone to call her mom, saying she was in Georgia, scared and wanted to come home, police said.
The girl's mom called local police, who then called Gwinnett County police. On Dec. 24 around 6:20 p.m., Gwinnett officers were sent to the Sinclair Apartments, where the teen came out of a bedroom holding two bags. She told police she hadn't been held against her will, according to the police report.
Nunez-Martinez was arrested and charged with two counts of statutory rape and interference with custody, according to Gwinnett jail records. He is also being held on an immigration violation and remained in jail Friday.
A family member drove to Gwinnett County to pick up the teen, police said.
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