HILLSBORO, Ohio — A California man has pleaded guilty to taking a Hillsboro teen across state lines with the intent of raping her over a year and a half ago, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office.
Alex Roman Nguyen, 29, pleaded guilty to taking a Hillsboro minor over state lines to commit rape.
Nguyen's plea agreement included a recommendation for up to a 151-month prison sentence. The court said they will decide Nguyen's sentence at a later hearing.
On July 19, 2022, a 15-year-old Hillsboro girl was found in El Paso, Texas with Nguyen, who was 28 at the time. The teen had been missing since July 16, 2022.
At the time of the incident, Hillsboro police said the girl, last seen in the early morning hours of July 16, 2022, had been talking with Nguyen, who was going by the name "Roman."
Also Read: Police: CA man traveled to Hillsboro to meet girl, then took her to TX
Nguyen traveled from California during the week of July 7, 2022, and attended Festival of the Bells, an annual Fourth of July festival in Hillsboro, with the girl. While in Hillsboro, he slept in a rental vehicle close to the girl's home, police said.
Then, Nguyen took the girl to Kentucky to buy plane tickets and engaged in sex acts with the teenager, a press release said.
Documents said Nguyen could not purchase plane tickets, so he got on a Greyhound bus with the minor and headed to San Diego.
Hillsboro police contacted the FBI when they learned, through online and cellular tracking, that Nguyen took the girl across state lines, outside of Ohio, police said. With the assistance of the FBI, Nguyen and the girl were apprehended in El Paso, Texas.
The girl was found safe, police said, and was transported back to Hillsboro.
Nguyen was charged the next day in the Southern District of Ohio.
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