New Delhi: A 31-year-old man travelled all the way from Mumbai to North Carolina to reestablish contact with a minor after she blocked him for posing as a younger male to enter into a “long-term online relationship” with her. US law-enforcement said he has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a juvenile victim.
In a statement, deputies from the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division said they responded to the Meadowlands community in northern Davidson County following a report of a verbal disturbance.
They said deputies were advised by an Uber driver that an “adult male passenger was allegedly stalking a juvenile female”.
Upon arrival, the deputies made contact with Prit Pankaj Jain, a resident of Mumbai.
The Sheriff’s Office said Jain “revealed that he was attempting to leave gifts for a female who he had been in an online dating relationship with. Deputies discovered the female was a juvenile.”
Detectives with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division were informed, and an investigation was initiated.
As part of the investigation, detectives interrogated Jain while Digital Forensic Specialists with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office conducted forensic examinations of mobile devices belonging to him, they said.
“The investigation revealed that Jain had concealed his identity through social media applications, represented himself as a younger male, and entered into a long-term online relationship with the juvenile victim. After the juvenile learned Jain’s true identity, she ended the relationship and blocked further communication,” sources from the Sheriff’s Office told ThePrint over the phone.
Investigators managed to establish that “Jain subsequently travelled from his home in Mumbai, India to the United States in an attempt to re-establish contact with the female juvenile.”
Following the interrogation, Jain was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, four counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of sexual extortion, the Sheriff’s office further said.
Jain was brought before the Davidson County Magistrate and ordered to be held without bond at the Davidson County Detention Center. His initial court appearance was scheduled for 25 September 25 in Davidson County District Court, they added.
Jain did appear in District Court, where a judicial officer ordered that he continue to be held without bond. Jain is scheduled to appear in Davidson County District Court on 6 October.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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