INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – Deputies searching for an 11-year-old reported missing used Snapchat to locate the person she was with at a beachside parking area, leading to the arrest of a 19-year-old on sex-offense charges, law enforcement records show.
The girl was reported missing by a family member in the early morning hours of May 11, and she was found with a Palm Beach Gardens man at Sexton Plaza shortly before 3:30 a.m., according to Indian River County Sheriff’s Office records.
Phu Le Thien Tran was initially charged with sexual battery, traveling to meet a minor for unlawful sexual activity and unlawful use of a two-way communications device. On June 3 while incarcerated at Indian River County Jail, he was rearrested on additional charges including lewd or lascivious molestation.
Deputies used the Snapchat account created by the child on a family member’s phone to find the location of Tran, who went by “Henry San” on the app. The approached his grey Ford Mustang parked at the popular plaza area and found both Tran and the girl inside, law enforcement records show.
Tran told detectives he began talking with the girl a week or two prior to their arranged meeting. Deputies said on that night the girl “snuck out of the house” around 1 a.m, and “walked a few houses down” to meet him in his car.
He told deputies the girl said she was 16, according to the report.
In a May 21 motion for a bond reduction by his defense attorney, Dorothy Naumann cited his statements to deputies that Tran “did not believe that there was a crime being committed at all” due to what he said he thought was her age, and among other things, that he had no criminal history or arrest record.
All were points Naumann repeated in a June 4 interview by phone. She said she entered the plea of not-guilty, which court records show occurred May 18.
In a June 3 hearing on the new charge, the judge assigned Tran a $150,000 bail. However, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office records show he remains in jail without bond as of June 4.
Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Corey on Twitter @coreyarwood, or reach him by phone at 772-978-2246.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: IRCSO: Snapchat used to track down missing child; Man arrested on sex charges