David Maya was playing a type of hide-and-seek game with a 12-year-old girl and her friends at a Wheeling Island playground Saturday just before he led her to a nearby wooded area and allegedly raped her, according to a police report.
Wheeling police have issued arrest warrants for Maya, 24, of Elkridge, Md., charging him with four counts of second-degree sexual assault. As of late Wednesday, he was not in police custody.
According to the report, the girl and Maya got acquainted in an Internet chat room; soon after, they exchanged contact information and began communicating via text message.
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Maya told the girl "she was pretty, he was 18 years old and he was from Maryland," the reports continues.
Deputy Police Chief Martin Kimball said the girl lied about her age as well, telling Maya she was older than she actually is. Kimball declined to reveal the exact age the girl claimed to be, however.
Maya reportedly met the girl Saturday afternoon at the Belle Island playground at the north end of Wheeling Island.
They were team members during a game of "jailbreak" - a type of of hide-and-seek game that included the girl's friends, the report states. Maya and the girl then reportedly walked to a nearby wooded area. Maya then laid the girl on the ground and, despite her pleas to stop, allegedly sexually assaulted her several times.
Investigators initially suspected the crime was committed by a 17-year-old. But after tracing a cell phone number, as well as an Internet screen name that was a combination of Maya's name and birth date, police were led to the 24-year-old.
Kimball on Wednesday said Maryland State Police or the U.S. Marshals Service was searching for Maya.
He was not sure if law enforcement in Howard County, Md., where Elkridge is located, had been made aware that Maya was wanted in Wheeling.
"Hopefully they're beating the bushes for him," Kimball said of Maryland law enforcement's search for Maya.
Maya is described as Hispanic, 5-feet 5-inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds.
He was reported to be driving a black 2000 Ford Mustang with tinted windows, possibly a convertible, with Maryland license plates.
