Jesus Take The Wheel: Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting 12-Year-Old Girl He Met on Tinder

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Los Angeles Man Accused Of Assaulting Girl He Met on Tinder

Felony charges were filed against a 21-year-old man on Friday after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 12 year-old girl he met through Tinder.

Sean Michael Rickard has been charged with three counts of lewd acts with a minor younger than 14 and one count each of distributing pornography to a minor with the intent to engage in sexual conduct and luring a child with the intent to commit a specified crime.

Rickard is currently being held on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned sometime on Friday in the Santa Ana jail courtroom.

A charter school student in Santa Ana, California, saw the alleged victim get into a car with an adult man Wednesday and snapped a photo that she showed her mother, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

“She told her mom she thought it was weird, so the mom did the right thing and contacted the school and the school did the right thing and contacted us,” Bertagna said. Police determined who the girl was and began investigating Rickard.

The two met through the Tinder app about eight months ago, after the girl claimed to be 19 years old, according to Rickard.

A few weeks ago, before they would meet in person, she confided that she was 12 “and he didn’t care,” Bertagna alleged. On Wednesday, Rickard allegedly drove the girl to a parking lot in Santa Ana, where they engaged in sexual acts.

After police began investigating the Anaheim man, they communicated with the suspect through the girl’s phone, pretending to be the alleged victim. Rickard sent a video of himself masturbating, and when he agreed to a meeting, the officers were there to arrest him, according to Bertagna.

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