Greensburg, PA -- Greensburg City Police and the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office announce the arrest of a 19-year-old Philadelphia man accused of kidnapping, trafficking, and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl from Greensburg.

A statewide effort ensured the 13-year-old girl involved made it home.

Agencies including Greensburg City Police, the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, Philadelphia Police’s Special Victims Unit, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit were integral to this investigation.

District Attorney Ziccarelli said, “First and foremost, I am so thankful this young girl is home safe, however let this be a lesson to each and every child and parent out there: if this can happen in Greensburg, this can happen anywhere.”

Angel Lopez, 19, is facing charges for kidnapping a minor, trafficking, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 16, unlawful contact of a minor, interference with child custody, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault of a child, sexual abuse of a child, corruption of minors, and criminal use of a communication facility.

A search warrant was executed at the defendant’s apartment this morning in Philadelphia where he was taken into custody by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit under the direction of Attorney General Dave Sunday.

Greensburg Police were notified of a missing 13-year-old girl on March 14^th.

The defendant allegedly instructed the child to leave behind a note that stated she was running away from home and told her family to not look for her.

Greensburg Police pinged the victim’s phone to an address near Ogontz Street in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Police located the victim shortly after and transported her to a nearby precinct to await a relative’s arrival.

It was revealed through the investigation that the victim had been in contact with the defendant for only four days through TikTok before she was trafficked and assaulted across the state.

The defendant arranged for the victim to come to Philadelphia and paid for an Uber to pick up the victim from Greensburg and transport her to his apartment in Philadelphia.

GPS coordinates provided by Uber through a search warrant confirmed the transport from Greensburg to Philadelphia with the destination ending near his apartment.

Upon her arrival, the victim was instructed to turn off her phone, offered drugs, and was sexually assaulted by the defendant.

After the assault, the defendant told the victim to shower to wash his DNA off of her.

The victim was able to escape the defendant’s apartment after she heard someone outside in the hallway and believed it was her means of getting to safety.

With the help of the digital forensic analyst in the Westmoreland County District Attorney Office, investigators were able to retrieve data from the victim’s devices detailing the exorbitant number of messages exchanged between the victim and the defendant, including graphic videos.

The case against Lopez remains active and ongoing.

DA Ziccarelli said, “As parents, we need to be vigilant and monitor who our children are talking to and what apps are downloaded on their devices. I applaud the local and state agencies involved who acted swiftly to bring this victim safely home and are pursuing justice to hold Mr. Lopez accountable.”

“There are no bounds to the extent predators will go to access kids, so collaboration between law enforcement is crucial,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said. “Our Child Predator Unit is trained and experienced to combat this heinous conduct, and we commend our partners who worked diligently to file charges and bring the child home.”

Disclaimer: To the extent that pending criminal matters are discussed, all such charges are merely accusations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.