Edrin Gonzalez Garcia, 22, of Harrisburg, was charged after investigators found a 15-year-old girl who had been reported missing from Stafford County, Virginia, at his Swatara Street home, according to a criminal complaint filed by Harrisburg police.

The investigation began after the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office requested assistance from Harrisburg police on Thursday, June 5, regarding the missing juvenile, identified in court records only as “GC.” The teen had reportedly left a therapeutic placement facility on May 28 and arranged through Instagram for Gonzalez Garcia to pick her up in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on June 2 and bring her to Harrisburg, according to the affidavit.

Using facial recognition technology and cellphone tracking, investigators located Gonzalez Garcia’s phone at his residence in the 2100 block of Swatara Street on June 5, police wrote. Officers and FBI agents went to the home and found the teen in an upstairs bedroom after Gonzalez Garcia answered the door, according to the complaint.

After being advised of his rights, Gonzalez Garcia admitted he had transported the teen from Martinsburg to Harrisburg and told investigators they had unprotected sex in a second-floor bedroom at least three or four times between June 2 and June 4, the affidavit states.

The teen later told investigators she had informed Gonzalez Garcia she was 15 years old and that she and Gonzalez Garcia had sex in the bedroom on the night of June 3, according to court records.

Gonzalez Garcia was charged with felony statutory sexual assault, felony corruption of minors, felony unlawful contact with a minor, misdemeanor indecent assault, and misdemeanor lure child into motor vehicle, according to his docket.

His preliminary arraignment was held before Magisterial District Judge George A. Zozos on Tuesday, June 9. Bail was set at $50,000, and court records show Gonzalez Garcia remains in Dauphin County Prison after being unable to post bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled before Magisterial District Judge Hanif L. Johnson Sr. on Thursday, June 25, court records show.


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