Man Allegedly Offered To Help Missing Teen Escape If She Sent Video Of Her Step-Father Raping Her
A Wisconsin man who helped a Tennessee 14-year-old girl who claimed she’d been raped by her father reportedly demanded video evidence of the attack from the teen.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Bryan Rogers(above left), 31, told the girl he “couldn’t risk getting in trouble” without proof she was raped.
“I know you don’t want to do it,” he said in a message to the girl. “But we need clear video evidence … you understand that I can get in a hell of a lot of trouble.”
Rogers first met the 14-year-old on an online gaming platform called Roblox back in December. Eventually, they began on other messaging apps when the girl revealed her father, Randall Pruitt, had been molesting her.
“I can’t just stay here,” the teen wrote. “If u don’t help me somehow I might as well kill my [expletive] self like I’ve been planning to do.”
Instead of immediately helping the teen contact police, Rogers said he would help her escape but only if she sent proof because she was a stranger.
“If you can get that video I can get you out of there but without it you will just wind back up with [him] and I’ll be in trouble,” he wrote in a different message. “He’s been molesting you for 12 years. If that’s not enough of a reason to get the video then idk what else to tell you.”
In a message to the girl, Rogers instructed her how to hide cellphone in her room to catch the next assault.
“That way when he comes for you it’s already recording and you don’t have to worry about anything,” one message read. “And I can’t help you if we don’t have foolproof leverage against [him].”
According to federal prosecutors, the girl listened to Rogers a recorded a 7-minute video of a molestation. Authorities later found the video saved on Rogers’ computer, reported BuzzFeed News.
Rogers then drove 800 miles to Tennessee, picked up the teen, and brought her back to Wisconsin. While she was gone, her adoptive father and mother appeared on news outlets and begged her to return home.
As a precaution, destroyed both of the girl’s phones.
After the teen was found safe at Rogers’ home, he was arrested and charged with sexual exploitation of a child. If convicted he faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison.
The girl has since returned to Tennessee, but is no longer living with her family, WKRN reports.