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| © Escambia County Jail Alaric Balfour Brown |
By Emma Kennedy, USA TODAY
PENSACOLA, Fla.
A Florida girl who was allegedly kidnapped by a man she had been messaging on Facebook and was rescued after sending a coded text message for help, according to authorities.
The girl's name, age and relationship to a woman who reported her missing are redacted from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office report on the incident. The woman gave police information on the girl's phone and the man who had been allegedly "stalking" her.
A convicted sex offender, Alaric Balfour Brown, 32, of Milton was arrested and charged with simple assault and kidnapping in connection with the case.
Sexual battery charges were also referred to the Milton Police Department's jurisdiction, according to Brown's arrest report.
The woman reported the girl missing on May 26, saying she came home to find a note saying the girl was sorry and she "did this because she loved her."
The woman said the girl had been talking to someone known to her as "Twist Brown" for several months and the man had been texting the girl and showing up to her cheerleading games.
The woman showed deputies text messages between the man and the girl about meeting in person someday, according to the report.
Further, the woman said she and the girl agreed to use a code word if the girl was in trouble. The woman said she received a text message earlier that day with the code word — "blueberry pie" — along with a message telling her to call police.
Deputies began working to locate the girl's phone. The girl then sent text messages saying "Twist" had taken her in a car that broke down on the side of the road, according to the report.
Authorities found the girl and Brown on Interstate 10, the report states.
The girl told police Brown came to her house, ordered her to leave and said if she didn't, she would get hurt. She told authorities he took her to Milton, raped her and threatened her afterward as they drove back toward Pensacola before the car broke down.
The girl said that after the car broke down, she was able to retrieve her phone and secretly send the text message.
According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement data, Brown was convicted of lewd and lascivious battery on a victim between 12 and 15 in 2004, and he violated sex offender registration requirements in 2009.
Brown remains in the Escambia County Jail on a $201,000 bond.
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