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Indiana man charged with raping, trafficking 14-year-old girl

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) A Fort Wayne man has been charged with rape and human trafficking, as well as other felonies, after his victim reportedly told police he tried to lure her into online prostitution.

Patrick J. Davis, 28, faces felony charges of rape, promotion of human trafficking, sexual misconduct with a minor and attempted promoting prostitution after police came upon him and a young girl in late March.

According to a probable cause affidavit, police on patrol March 29 found a grey Chrysler 300 sedan illegally parked on Winter Street in Fort Wayne. Officers spoke with three people in the car, Davis included, along with a young girl asleep in the backseat and “confused with her surroundings.”

A woman in the car told police the girl was her cousin, but police identified her as a 14-year-old runaway, and noted she was wearing a good deal of makeup, the affidavit said.

During an interview with police, the girl said she met Davis through Facebook, where he pitched her a plan to make money through prostitution, the affidavit said. The girl said Davis knew she was young, and said she told him at one point, “You know I am not 15 yet,” the affidavit said. Davis reportedly told the girl her age was not an issue and “no one had to know,” the affidavit said.

The affidavit detailed that Davis picked the girl up in an alley behind her home on March 28. The girl said he immediately took her phone and deactivated her Facebook account “to make it harder to track (her) movements,” the affidavit said. The girl said Davis also planned to destroy her phone for the same reason.

From there, the girl said she spent the night with Davis and the other woman at Davis’s mother’s home, and they planned to travel to Ohio the following day to begin the prostitution through a website called backpage.com, the affidavit said. The girl said Davis planned to enroll her in a “bootcamp” to learn the rules for engaging in online prostitution.

The plan was foiled when they were stopped by police, however, the girl told police.

A week later, the girl called police from the Allen County Juvenile Center and said she had additional information for investigators. During an interview with police, the girl said she’d sent nude photographs to Davis at his request. She also said Davis ordered her to write a note to her parents about why she was running away.

The girl then said Davis had raped her while she stayed with him in late March, the affidavit said.

The girl also told investigators that Davis took her to the home of a woman previously arrested for prostitution promotion, according to the affidavit. There, the girl told police that Davis and that woman discussed making her over, and securing her a fake ID, according to the affidavit. They also planned to obtain a pre-paid credit card to pay for her advertising on the prostitution website, and discussed the best locations for her to engage in the acts, the affidavit said.

Davis is expected to be scheduled a trial date in Allen Superior Court on Wednesday.

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