SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - Authorities say a Missouri man molested an 11-year-old girl he met using the MeetMe dating app.
Twenty-one-year-old Joseph Meili, of Russellville, pleaded not guilty to charges of child kidnapping, statutory sodomy and statutory rape at his arraignment this week. The Springfield News-Leader reports that the girl provided her address while using her mother’s phone to exchange messages with Meili.
The probable cause statement says Meili went to the girl’s house in July and drove her to a Springfield apartment. Police say that while the girl was being sexually assaulted, a search was underway for her. The girl returned home later that day and subsequently tested positive for chlamydia.
Meili told authorities he met up with a girl, but her page on the app showed that she was 18 years old.
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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, https://www.news-leader.com
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