ST. CLAIRSVILLE - After he allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old Belmont County girl in a local motel, Kevin Farr left the teen near the Zanesville Police Department and told her to tell authorities she was a runaway.
A Belmont County grand jury this week indicted Farr, 42, of North Manchester, Ind., on felony charges of importuning and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He was arrested early Thursday morning by Wabash County, Ind., deputies.
Farr is awaiting extradition to Ohio, according to Belmont County Assistant Prosecutor Helen Yonak.
Farr was in communication via the Internet with the girl since at least August, according to the indictment. Investigators, however, believe the two communicated for much longer.
Yonak said Farr made the six-hour trip to Belmont County on Nov. 7. She said he picked the 13-year-old girl up and the two then had consenual sex in a rented room. Yonak said the Belmont County Sheriff's Department was contacted by Zanesville police after the girl spoke to authorities.
Yonak praised the work of Belmont County Sheriff's Department Sex Crimes Investigator Ryan Allar.
The assistant prosecutor said she was not alone in commending the efforts of the detective following Farr's indictment.
"The grand jury shook his hand in the hallway," Yonak said. "They thanked him for what a good job he'd done."
Allar said the victim did not know Farr's true identity. He said the two had been in communication for years.
"He gave the girl a fake name," Allar said. "By tracing a phone number and a photograph, we confirmed his identity. We believe he has been grooming her for over two years."
Yonak said Farr has no prior criminal history. He faces five years in jail on the third-degree felony charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
The importuning charge is a fifth-degree felony, and it carries a possible prison sentence of 12 months.
Yonak said Farr could have faced a more lengthy sentence if his alleged sex crimes were committed just months ago.
"If he would've shown up in August instead of November, the charge would have been rape, because she still would have been 12," she said. "If it would have been rape, the sentence would have been 10 to life."