Bizarre Cross-Border search ends
A 13-year-old student and his 25-year-old teacher were taken into police custody after fleeing to mexico in order to "create a romantic life," CNN reports. Nebraska residents Kelsey Peterson, 25, and Fernando Rodriguez, 13, were traced to the Mexican border town of Mexicali after Rodriguez called home to ask for money.
"'They didn't have a very well-defined plan, it was basically to continue driving into Mexico to hide," said Alfredo Arenas, the Baja California state police official who detained Peterson. "This was a mutual agreement to flee after the story came out that they were having sex.'
The Associated Press generally does not identify people who may be victims of sex crimes, but the boy's name had been widely publicized as police searched for him." (CNN)
Peterson was taken into FBI custody Saturday. She faces charges of kidnapping, child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in Nebraska as well as federal charges of transporting a minor across state lines or a foreign border for sexual activity, U.S. Attorney Joe Stecher said. Rodriguez, on the other hand, was turned over to relatives in the southern state of Guanajuato. Because of his illegal immigration status, he will most likely be required to stay there.
"Anytime you have an adult taking advantage of a child, this is a child 13 years old, it becomes priority," Stecher said via Miami's Local 10 news. "It's a manipulative crime. You talk about a 13-year-old. How much influence has been put on them for this and you don't know what direction it will turn."
One more for the folks:
"In letters, the boy called Peterson his "Baby Gurl" and said their relationship was "just not about the sex but that it was pretty good," according to the court documents." (CNN)