A Florida man has been charged with the appalling rape of a 12-year-old runaway.
Brian Young, 53, allegedly raped the 12-year-old girl who ran away from Florida United Methodist Children’s Home in August 2021.
On Friday, Feb. 4, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office announced that an investigation was launched on Aug. 24 after deputies located the missing girl at Green Springs Park. After the victim was found, she reportedly told authorities she wanted to kill herself. She was transported to Halifax Behavioral Services for evaluation.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the girl also told authorities she had been sexually battered after she left a transient camp in the woods near Green Springs Park in Deltona. The girl was not able to provide specific details about the location, the Sheriff’s Office says.
Young, a man who resided in a transient camp nearby, was reportedly identified as a suspect by the Sheriff’s Office Deltona Crime Suppression Team.
A sexual assault kit was used, and the captured foreign DNA matched Young, the Sheriff’s Office says. An arrest warrant for Young was reportedly obtained on charges of sexual battery of a child.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, on Thursday, Feb. 3, Young was contacted in the Green Springs Park area and arrested without incident. Upon further search of his backpack, Young was also reportedly charged with possession of fentanyl and possession of narcotics paraphernalia.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the victim “was troubled” and had run away from the Children’s Home multiple times before.
ed meds