Girl who went to Texas to be with man she met over Internet is found

WFRV.COM ^ | 08/25/2005 | AP

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

TOWN OF BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) A 14-year-old town of Brookfield girl who went to Texas to be with a man she met over the Internet has been found there and the man has been arrested, authorities say.

Sgt. Anthony Bertram of the town's police department said Wednesday that Baytown, Texas, police found the two at the man's home Saturday, and the girl was in protective custody

Esteban A. Lopez, 37, of Baytown, has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, Assistant District Attorney George Weissfisch said, and was being held on $100,000 bail in the Harris County Jail in Texas.

The girl's mother reported her daughter missing on Aug. 14 after finding a five-page ``goodbye'' letter, Capt. Tim Imler of town of Brookfield police said.

The girl's mother left for Lake Tahoe on Aug. 18, telling police that she had nonrefundable airline tickets, and they could reach her by cell phone, according to the town of Brookfield police report on the case.

When Texas authorities called her with the news that her daughter had been found, ``she didn't seem very concerned about the welfare of (her daughter) and (said) that she was still on vacation in California. However, she was planning on leaving for Texas to pick up (her daughter) when she could,'' according to the police report.

The mother has not had contact with the town of Brookfield police since her daughter was found, Imler said.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Sounds like the Mom didn't give a damn.

[martin_fierro]

The girl's mother left for Lake Tahoe on Aug. 18, telling police that she had nonrefundable airline tickets

Mom sure has her priorities straight.

[caver]

"Met over the internet"??? I never understood the concept of meeting over the internet. I have e-mailed people about business and they have replied but I don't consider that I've met them.

[billybudd]

Very suspicious.

[teenyelliott]

Geez, makes you wonder why the poor kid was looking for someone else to take care of her, huh?

[billybudd]

What about Free Republic? We're real people here, not bots!

[ncountylee]

``she didn't seem very concerned about the welfare of (her daughter) and (said) that she was still on vacation in California. However, she was planning on leaving for Texas to pick up (her daughter) when she could,''

CPS notified?

[r9etb]

Sounds like there may be a bit more to this story than we're being told.

[Mister_Diddy_Wa_Diddy]

It also sounds like "mom" was glad to have the girl out of her hair.

How much you wanna bet the "mom" was a teenage mother herself?

[Mygirlsmom]

Sounds like (some people in) Brookfield to me.

[kjam22]

Yeah.... like mom probably bought the airline ticket for her daughter.

[cowboyway]

We're real people here, not bots!

Speak for yourself.

[Izzy Dunne]

I met the woman who is now my wife on the Internet.

[HairOfTheDog]

"Met over the internet"??? I never understood the concept of meeting over the internet. I have e-mailed people about business and they have replied but I don't consider that I've met them.

Not only have I met many friends 'over the internet', a group of us who met right here at FR went on a Florida vacation a few years ago and have kept in contact and meet up many times since in 'real life'. I also met my husband here, 'over the internet'.

The internet, like the rest of the world, is both a wonderful, and dangerous place.

[DGray]

Yeah. Just from the information given here, I kind of don't blame the young girl for investigating alternative living arrangements.

[Skooz]

I would have left home, too.

Poor kid.

[HairOfTheDog]

Sounds like the Mom didn't give a damn.

That it does... or that she'd had it up to > < here with this daughter's stunts.

[Dubh_Ghlase]

I have (at least) 2 family members that have met their future spouses over the internet. In one of the cases where the relative is local, it has been a really good thing. Compatible and happy. Seems like there have been some Freepers who have met here and ended up tying the knot as well.

The internet has become just another place to meet like-minded people. What develops after that is anyone's guess...

[DGray]

And I met my husband online, although it was through a local BBS rather than the internet.

[MaryFromMichigan]

I met the woman who is now my wife on the Internet.

Is she also your wife when you're not on the Internet?