Mum finds him hiding in daughter's closet

Mum finds him hiding in daughter's closet

He is 27 and she is 14.

They had been chatting online for a month before meeting in person.

The man, identified as Jarred Workman from North Carolina, then allegedly spent five days in the girl's closet.

He allegedly sexually assaulted her during those days, Mail Online reported. The police said he stayed there from April 27 to May 2. He was caught when the girl's mother went to put some of her daughter's belongings in the closet.

Workman ran off, leaving his wallet and mobile phone behind.

The mother, who asked not to be identified, told local television station WSOCTV: "I was shocked more than anything. I asked him who he was and he said Jarred Workman and he was 19."

He turned himself in after being on the run for more than two weeks, reports said.

He has been charged with 11 counts of statutory rape and five counts of statutory sex offence.

The girl, who was also not identified, told the police that she and Workman had started speaking online about a month before they met in person.

Lieutenant Bill Hamby, a detective, told USA Today: "During the day, he was either in her closet or in her bedroom. And when she would come home from school or on the weekend or whatever, he would come out in evenings."

They arranged to meet near her parents'' house late last month.

INVITED IN

The girl invited him into the house and that is when he started to sexually assault her, investigators said.

Said Lt Hamby: "Just the fact that he would be that brazen. To come up and meet a girl online and then stay in her residence, not knowing what her parents are or what they are about."

Said the teen's mother: "I'm uncomfortable in my own home. I'm scared. I can't sleep at night."

She wants other parents to know the importance of monitoring their children's online activity.

"The Internet has just ruined that poor girl," the mother was quoted as saying. "She was just taken advantage of."

Investigators said Workman has had previous arrests and faces charges in another sexual assault case.


This article was first published on May 22, 2014.
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