Tiktok, Snapchat messages started an Arizona teen’s kidnapping

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Tiktok, Snapchat messages started an Arizona teen’s kidnapping

February 9, 2023

Moherb County, Arizona — Age 14 Mojave County A girl found in the basement of a Utah sex offender’s home met him on TikTok, new court documents say.

The suspect, 26-year-old Jordan Sorenson, began commenting on a teenage girl’s TikTok video and later found her Snapchat account.

Records show that Sorenson persuaded the teen to give her an address by saying she would send her food through a delivery app, and said he would drive her from Utah to Arizona.

According to the documents, the teenage girl said she didn’t expect him to show up, but when he did, she didn’t feel safe, and that Sorenson stopped and stopped talking to him. “Bad things will happen,” he said.

The 14-year-old girl was wearing an ankle monitor that Sorenson reportedly disconnected, threw away her cell phone, and returned to Utah before sexually assaulting her at a motel.

Mojave County officials told 12News they tracked the ankle monitor to its last known location and reviewed nearby surveillance footage.

“That’s how we saw her get into a car with the guy,” said Sarah Colbert, of the Mojave County Probation Office. It was a way of knowing

Authorities worked with Utah investigators to discover the teenager in Sorenson’s basement. He is currently charged with rape and aggravated kidnapping.

“It could have been worse,” said Natalie Eggers of the Mojave County Probation Service.

Mojave County officials regularly raise awareness about human trafficking and believe they are focused on solving this problem quickly.

“When minors become victims of human trafficking, it comes down to exchanging something of value for sex,” Eggers said.

“It could be food, it could be transportation, it could be shelter, it could be drugs, whatever the person needed. And you can see that it’s not just human trafficking. photograph When you think of someone being kidnapped, taken and sold across the ocean. It happens here and it happens often. ”

Colbert added: “She was trading her food with this boy. There was a mobile phone and a place to stay. She was trafficked within 48 hours.”

Sorenson was a registered sex offender with a suspended sentence resulting from previous convictions. Sorenson previously took a 13-year-old girl from Wyoming to Colorado.

Phoenix company helps parents monitor their kids’ social media

This is the case that inspired Jacob DiMartino to create RAADR.

“The most important thing a parent can do is be vigilant,” DiMartino said.

RAADR is free app It allows parents to monitor their children’s social media accounts for harmful keywords that can signal everything from bullying to predatory behavior.

“Knowing which platforms your kids are using can tell you what friend groups they have and who they’re engaging with,” says DiMartino.

“It’s hard to keep track of everything. But that’s where RAADR comes in. Most parents just don’t have time to scroll through their kids’ social media posts, so our app simplifies things. , disassemble.”