CLEARFIELD COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Police in Clearfield County said they arrested a man who planned to take a teenage girl to South Carolina after he allegedly kidnapped her.
Christopher Swoope, 24, is in the Clearfield County Jail and facing charges of kidnapping a minor, interfering with custody of children, concealing the whereabouts of a child, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility, luring a child into a motor vehicle and indecent assault.
Clearfield Regional police were first alerted on Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. when they were called to a residence in the borough. A man who called 911 claimed his 14-year-old daughter ran off with an adult. According to a criminal complaint, the man later identified as Swoope picked up the teen in a Ford SUV.
2 Ohio juveniles arrested after chase in stolen car through Clearfield When officers spoke to the teenager’s parents, they said their daughter had been speaking to Swoope through Snapchat. The parents claimed they didn’t know who Swoope was but learned their daughter sent a message to another teen saying she and Swoope were going to South Carolina.
According to the affidavit, police searched the teen’s phone and found several Snapchat messages from Swoope, one allegedly reading “I’m so ready to see you/My love.” State police were then called to assist in the case.
A short time later, Troopers stopped Swoope’s vehicle but the teen girl was not with him. She was eventually found to have been at another residence where he had allegedly dropped her off.
Teen charged with burglary, theft of PennDOT truck in Bedford County State police and Clearfield Regional police then spoke to the teen at the Clearfield PSP Barracks. She told police she had been talking to Swoope for two weeks on Snapchat and made plans for him to pick her up.
According to the complaint, the teen said her mother had followed her to the spot where Swoope was to meet her. She claimed she got into Swoope’s SUV and they drove away. After parking his vehicle, the teen alleged that Swoope made her touch him inappropriately and he also put his hand on the inside of her thigh.
The teenager also told police she was planning to go with Swoope to South Carolina for two months and claimed he told her he wanted to get her pregnant.
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State police then questioned Swoope who claimed the teen initially told him she was 17 when they messaged on Snapchat. Police noted in the complaint that he allegedly admitted to touching the teen but said he stopped because he “knew it was wrong.”
Swoope also told police he and the teen planned to leave for South Carolina on Tuesday, Oct. 1. A preliminary hearing for Swoope was scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 2.
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