HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio (WCHS) — A Tennessee man has been federally charged after he was found with a missing Ohio teenager in Florida earlier this year, prosecutors said.
Stephen L. Negron, 42, of Rogersville, Tenn., is charged with transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
The case stems back to Feb. 13 after cell phone data showed that a phone belonging to a missing teen from Colerain Township north of Cincinnati was powered off. Prior to the phone being turned off, data placed the phone at an intersection near the victim’s home.
A review of area security cameras showed a silver Chevrolet pickup truck with a Tennessee license plate registered to Negron in the vicinity at the same time.
Investigators then used license plate readers to track the truck’s travel southbound through Kentucky and into Tennessee, the news release said.
On March 12, FBI agents in Tennessee executed a federal search warrant at Negron’s home where they found evidence of a new cell phone number, the news release. GPS pings on the cell phone led agents to a hotel in Palatka, Fla.
Prosecutors said Negron had driven to Florida in a different work truck where he was located with the victim and arrested.
During the investigation into Negron, officials found an ongoing protective order issued out of Texas regarding an 18-year-old girl who allegedly met Negron online in 2023 when she was 16 and he was 41.
Prosecutors said Negron traveled from Florida and Tennessee to meet up with the girl and brought her back to Tennessee with him. He then allegedly drugged her, sexually assaulted her and threatened violence to her and her family, the news release said.
He was arrested in Florida on charges related to that case and is expected to be extradited back to Ohio where he will face charges related to the Colerain Township teen.
If convicted in that case, Negron faces at least 10 years in prison.