A 29-year-old East Stroudsburg man faces charges after police said he had sex with a 12-year-old girl, after texting her inappropriately.
Moises Robles faces felony charges of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors.
According to a criminal complaint, on Jan. 2, Blakely Detective Peter Petrucci responded to a borough residence regarding a report of child abuse to ChildLine that was forwarded to the Lackawanna County district attorney’s office.
The report alleged inappropriate texts between Robles and the 12-year-old, with few details.
Officers spoke with a member of the girl’s family, who said he had noticed concerning text messages on the juvenile’s phone and a FaceTime call that Apple flagged for inappropriate content during the Christmas holiday.
An examination of the girl’s phone indicated Robles would routinely tell her “I love you” and threaten to block her if she didn’t immediately respond to his messages.
At one point, the juvenile did a Google search asking if she could get pregnant even though she hadn’t gotten her period yet.
The text messages made it clear Robles knew the girl’s age, according to the complaint.
On Jan. 9, a Children’s Advocacy Center counselor interviewed the juvenile, who said the abuse started around Halloween.
She described Robles as a friend of the family and said he began touching her inappropriately when no one else was around.
The girl said she was scared and uncomfortable, but Robles said that if she told her family they would be mad at her.
Their encounters then became violent.
If she resisted the abuse, the 12-year-old said Robles would push her away and strangle her to near unconsciousness. She described the experience as “feeling her body shutting down.”
Robles would also strangle her during abuse, court papers say.
The juvenile told authorities Robles would grab her hair and force her to perform oral sex.
She said Robles would take off her clothes and throw them across the room so she couldn’t get to them.
Robles remains at Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $200,000 bail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 4 before District Judge Alyce Farrell.