Man charged with sexual assault in connection to missing 12-year-old girl found in Ohio

GEORGIA/OHIO — A 34-year-old man has been indicted on five felony sex offenses in connection to a missing 12-year-old Georgia girl found in Ohio, our CBS affiliate WOIO-19 TV reported.

Antonio Agustin, 34, was indicted in the Tuscarawas Common Please Court on two counts of rape, one count of gross sexual imposition, and two counts of panders sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person.

The 12-year-old Georgia girl went missing from her home in Hall County on May 29, according to a previous News Center 7 report.

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She was found in Dover, Ohio with Agustin in late July.

WOIO-19 reported that a Georgia judge confirmed the case in Ohio will proceed.

“Based on the information we have at this time, the most serious criminal offenses in this case occurred in Ohio, and the bulk of necessary witnesses even to prove a Hall County case are in Ohio. It makes sense that the suspect answer to what charges Ohio proceeds on first,” District Attorney for the Northeastern Judicial Circuit of Georgia Lee Darragh said.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said their Criminal Investigation Bureau believes Agustin traveled to Georgia to pick up the 12-year-old, according to a previous News Center 7 report.

The bureau thinks the two went back to Agustin’s Ohio home the same day.

“We believe [she] had been communicating for a time with Mr. Augustin via Facebook Messenger and other online apps. [She] had indicated she was unhappy and wanted to leave home. We also know she had been communicating with other adult males online, telling them the same thing,” Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch said during a press conference. “That said, I want to be clear that [she] is the victim here. She is only 12-years-old.”

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