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Steven Ellis, a man from Altoona, Pennsylvania, was arrested for allegedly establishing an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl he met on Tinder. Fox News reported that the 32-year-old is facing multiple charges including child p*nography and unlawful contact with a minor.
Steven Ellis was arrested after the mother of the teen found inappropriate messages between her daughter and Ellis. She went on to report him to the police who arrested and charged him with more than a dozen charges.
Trigger warning: The article contains references to s*xual assault involving a minor and child p*rnography. Readers' discretion is advised.
According to the court documents that Fox News cited, the girl had revealed her real age to Steven Ellis, who continued messaging her despite that. She also said that she faked her age on Tinder which made her appear older than she was.
Police allegedly found messages between the two where Steven Ellis asked the 14-year-old to delete their messages so he could stay out of trouble.
Steven Ellis was allegedly aware of the teen's real age and still exchanged explicit messages with her
The 14-year-old's mother spoke to the State Police on September 19, 2023, after she saw some inappropriate messages on her daughter's cell phone. It was revealed that the messages were sent by 32-year-old Steven Ellis.
As mentioned earlier, the police confirmed that Ellis met the girl on Tinder and that the two would often share explicit photos and messages. Their messages continued even after the 14-year-old revealed her real age to Steven.
When the girl was questioned by her mother and the police, she claimed that she and Steven had planned on having s*x as well. She revealed that the two met on September 18, 2023, near her house where the 32-year-old man went on to "k*ss and f*ndle" her.
As mentioned earlier, at one point, Steven also asked the teen to delete their messages and she told him that he couldn't get her in trouble.
Fox News reported that Steven Ellis responded to this stating:
"Yeah, but your trouble doesn't end up with you on a list that pretty much removes your rights to be a human being and people will look at me a certain way for the rest of my life if we get caught."
Ellis allegedly met the girl on September 18 after she snuck out of her house
Online court documents revealed that Ellis' arraignment took place on Friday. He was handed multiple charges including unlawful contact with a minor, child p*rnography, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, and attempted statutory s*xual assault.
Fox28 Savannah reported that according to troopers, Ellis' car was seen multiple times near the girl's house. According to the criminal complaint against Ellis, he made plans with the teen so she could sneak out of her house to meet him on the night of September 18, 2023. The police had seized the girl's cellphone for the investigation and found a number of s*xually explicit messages between the two.
Ellis is currently being booked into Blair County Prison, and a bail amount of $250,00 has also been decided. Authorities are currently investigating the case.
This incident came to light just a few days after a Mojave High School employee was accused and arrested in connection to lewdness with a minor. The employee was soon banned from entering the school campus due to the allegations.
