The victim apparently met the alleged predator online, and then met up with him after running away from home.
[Ads /]
"We do know that the 15 -year-old victim ran away from home with a male subject who she met online," said Gloria Huerta, spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. "The male suspect sexually assaulted the victim and released her somewhere in the area."
The victim reported the incident around 3 a.m. Wednesday. Detectives said the girl did not require hospitalization.
Crime analysts said while these kinds of incidents are rare, it's an unfortunate example of the dangers children face online and why parents should pay close attention to what their children are doing on their electronic devices.
"Something that parents and adults forget is that as amazing as technology is, we can access the world from our electronic device, but that also means that the world has access to our children," said Erlinda Rogers with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
Another concern for law enforcement, the issue of human trafficking. They said it is often people who have run away from home or been rejected by their parents who become targets of human traffickers.
[Ads /]
"According to the Center of Missing and Exploited Children, it only takes eight minutes for a predator to earn the trust of a child," said Rogers, who advises parents to have conversations with their children, and monitor their online activities, as difficult as those conversations might be for them.
"Talk to your child about the risks that are out there, talk to your child and let them know that when it comes to taking their phone to bed at night," said Rogers. "It's almost like 70% of children take their phone to sleep at night, and I think it's really important for parents to limit that or charge their phone in their own room, or cut it off, because why do they need their phone at 3 in the morning?"
Detectives have interviewed the girl to try to try to get more information on the suspect, but investigators say as of now, no suspect or suspect vehicle information is available to release to the public.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.