WHEELING - The man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl on Wheeling Island - David Maya, 24, of Elkridge, Md. - was arrested by Howard County, Md., police about 2 p.m. Friday, said Wheeling Deputy Chief Martin Kimball.
Maya is facing four counts of second-degree sexual assault after he allegedly raped the girl June 9 near the Belle Isle baseball field on the north end of the Island.
The girl, a Wheeling resident, told police she and some other children were playing a hide and seek-type game on the playground with Maya when Maya led her into a nearby wooded area and allegedly assaulted her.
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DAVID MAYA
"The details of the arrest are not in yet. He was coming home from work - I don't know where he works," Kimball said.
Kimball said Prosecutor Scott Smith next week will seek Maya's extradition to West Virginia.
According to police, Maya and the girl first became acquainted in an Internet chat room and then began texting each other. They arranged to meet in Wheeling. The girl was pretending to be older, while Maya was pretending to be younger. Based on interviews with the victim, police initially believed the suspect was younger than 18 years old but old enough to drive a vehicle. Additional interviews led them to Maya.
"We were confident he would be caught soon. He didn't seem like the type of criminal that would try to hide. ... He thought the victim would not repeat it," Kimball said.
