TikTok Meeting Leads To PA Teen's Multiple Sexual Assaults: Police

GREENSBURG, PA — A Philadelphia man met a 13-year-old Westmoreland County girl on TikTok and paid for her cross-state Uber ride to visit him before he sexually assaulted her multiple times, police said.

A woman called Greensburg police on March 14 saying the girl had run away. Police were able to track her Philadelphia location via cell phone data; police there found her and took her to the police station until her mother could arrive, WPXI-TV reported.

The victim told authorities she had met Angel Lopez, 19, via TikTok and he had offered to pay for her trip to visit him via Uber. She said that when she arrived at his apartment, he sexually assaulted her.

According to WPXI, the criminal complaint states that the victim then told Lopez she wanted to leave the apartment, but that he began using “manipulation tactics” to get her to stay. The teen was so afraid for her safety that she began pulling out strands of her hair and left them in the bedroom in hopes that her DNA would be identified.

WTAE-TV reported that she was able to escape when she heard someone in the apartment complex hallway. She told police if Lopez decided to come after her, she hoped the person she heard would call the police.

Lopez is facing numerous charges, including kidnapping of a minor, trafficking in individuals, statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with someone under 16.