A 30-year-old Oklahoma City man is behind bars after police say he met a 14-year-old foster child on Snapchat, picked her up after she climbed out a shelter window, and raped her multiple times — assaulting a second teenage girl in the process. The man is jailed on two counts of lewd acts with a child under 16, with investigators saying additional charges may follow.
According to KOCO, the 14-year-old girl told police she left her shelter through a window on July 18 and disclosed her age to the man before he picked her up across the street from the shelter at an apartment building in Oklahoma City. Police say the man then had sex with the girl after pulling over during the drive, and threatened her — telling her he would return her to the shelter if she refused, per the station's report.
A Second Teen Pulled Into the Assault
The man allegedly brought the girl to his home, where he raped her again and forced her to watch part of the assault, according to the same account. He is also accused of demanding she perform additional sexual acts. The 14-year-old had met a 17-year-old girl who lived in Midwest City — described as a friend — and the man later picked up that teen and brought her to his house as well, KOCO reports.
Police allege the man raped the 17-year-old girl too. On July 20, he drove both girls back to the older teen's house, the outlet notes. It was there that the 17-year-old's mother learned the 14-year-old was staying with her family, and she called her daughter's caseworker to report it — a call that set off the chain of events leading to the arrest.
A Delayed Discovery
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services says it did not learn the 14-year-old was missing until July 21, three days after she left the shelter. A DHS spokesperson said the agency cannot discuss the specific circumstances because the investigation remains active, but added that protecting children in state care is an important responsibility and that DHS will continue working with law enforcement, per the same account. A shelter staff member had separately requested contact information for the 17-year-old's mother, though it is not clear from available reporting exactly how that request fits into the shelter's response timeline.
Once DHS was alerted to the alleged assaults, the agency contacted police, according to KOCO. Some state child-welfare policies call for immediate notification of law enforcement when a foster child goes missing, according to guidance published by the Child Welfare Information Gateway. The dossier does not specify why several days passed between the girl leaving the shelter and DHS logging her as missing.
What Charges Could Come Next
The man currently faces two counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child under 16, a felony that under Oklahoma law carries a sentence of three to 20 years in state prison along with mandatory lifetime registration as a sex offender, according to a breakdown from the ok-criminal-defense.com. Police say he may face additional charges as the investigation continues.
If prosecutors ultimately file rape charges based on the allegations, the exposure grows considerably. Oklahoma's First-Degree Rape statute allows for death, life imprisonment, or life imprisonment without parole, while Second-Degree Rape carries one to 15 years, and both require mandatory sex offender registration, per an explanation from OnYourWorstDay.com. Any conviction on First-Degree Rape would also trigger Oklahoma's 85% Rule, which requires people convicted of those offenses to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole, according to case law compiled by FindLaw.
A Familiar Pattern on Snapchat
This is not the first child exploitation case in the Oklahoma City area. In March 2025, a 31-year-old Edmond resident was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.
The case also lands amid a nationwide surge in reports of online child enticement. CyberTipline reports submitted to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children jumped 158 percent in 2025, topping 1.4 million reports nationwide, according to data shared by the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. Congressional oversight efforts have examined Snapchat's CyberTipline reporting.
According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the organization assisted law enforcement with 29,568 cases of missing children in 2024 and helped bring 91% of them home.
Foster Youth Face Elevated Risk
The case involves a 14-year-old foster child who left a shelter.
Oklahoma law requires anyone who suspects child abuse or neglect to immediately contact the Oklahoma Department of Human Services' 24-hour hotline at 1-800-522-3511. The investigation into the Oklahoma City man remains active, and it is not yet clear when or whether the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office will file additional charges beyond the two counts he currently faces.
