N.J. man charged with molesting local teen

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James Halpin, The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read
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Apr. 2—A New Jersey man has been arrested on child sex and pornography charges alleging he engaged in a months-long sexual relationship with a local 14-year-old girl he met online.

Kingston Twp. police and Luzerne County detectives arrested Ronald Vargas, 33, of Jersey City, on Thursday over allegations that he repeatedly had sex with the teen and convinced her to send him sexually explicit images.

According to the charges, the teen met Vargas on the YouNow video application in January 2020 and started a relationship with him days later.

Vargas initially identified himself as a 17-year-old man, then later claimed to be 21 and eventually 28, police said.

The girl began receiving calls and texts at "all hours of the night," prompting her father to put a location and activity tracker on her phone, police said.

Vargas, however, showed her how to disable the tracker, according to the complaint. He also encouraged her to stay with her mother, who they believed would be less attentive, the complaint says.

Police began investigating May 10, 2020, when the girl's mother reported her missing. The girl had told her mother she was sleeping over a friend's house, but she actually went to spend the weekend with Vargas in a hotel in the Poconos, police said.

Police found the girl alone at the Wawa in Blakeslee, according to the complaint.

The girl later told police Vargas had instructed her to lie about their relationship, and that his insistence upon her lying made her see that what he was doing was wrong, police said.

Police charged Vargas with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, unlawful contact with a minor, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of a minor, criminal use of a communication facility, indecent assault, possessing child pornography and disseminating child porn.

Magisterial District Judge Michael G. Dotzel arraigned Vargas on the charges Thursday afternoon and denied bail, citing Vargas' history of failing to appear in court.

Vargas was being held at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility with a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 15.

Contact the writer:

jhalpin@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2058

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