A Phoenix man is facing numerous felonies after he allegedly picked up a teenage girl in Georgia, took her to Arizona to live at his home and sexually assaulted her.
On Saturday, Phoenix police officers arrested 27-year-old Blane Patterson at his home near Seventh Street and McDowell Road, where the 14-year-old girl, who was reported missing in Georgia last month, was found safe.
Patterson admitted to meeting the girl through social media when she was 13, according to court documents. During the investigation, he referred to her as his girlfriend and said he was “struggling with guilt about the relationship” knowing it was a criminal offense.
The girl and Patterson have been chatting on social media for a year, sharing nude photos and videos weekly. According to court documents, they had planned for Patterson to drive to Georgia, pick her up, and take her to his home in Phoenix.
On July 28, the 14-year-old girl was reported missing in Lafayette, Georgia, after she was last seen at her friend’s home. According to police reports, she left a note suggesting that she was “possibly suicidal” and indicated that she would be dating someone her family knew had passed away.
After her disappearance, officers learned through recovered text messages and social media accounts that the girl was speaking to Patterson and discussed the meeting. Police asked for help from the FBI, who, according to court documents, provided basic subscriber information and IP addresses from Patterson’s recently deleted social media account.
It was also documented that a silver Nissan Verse with an Arizona license plate arrived at a park near the girl’s last known whereabouts. The registration was traced back to Phoenix, according to police, and belonged to Patterson.
After receiving this information, police and FBI agents began surveillance of a studio apartment Patterson rented in Phoenix. Police soon searched the location and found Patterson and the girl partially naked in bed, according to court documents.
The teenager was taken to the Family Advocacy Center in Phoenix for questioning. When police questioned Patterson, he claimed he knew her age at the time of the kidnapping and said the girl asked him to rescue her from her Georgia home because she said she had been sexually abused by several men close to her, according to police reports .
Patterson has neither verified nor attempted to report these allegations, nor reported these allegations to the authorities. The girl told investigators that she expressed to Patterson that she was depressed and suicidal and he offered to go to Georgia and bring her back to Phoenix to live with him. She reportedly did not mention having been sexually abused in Goergia and was not afraid to go home.
Patterson admitted to engaging in sexual activity with the girl on the drive back to Arizona. He said there had been seven incidents of sexual assault during his time in Arizona and he had recorded at least two of them, according to court documents.
According to Maricopa County Superior Court filings, Patterson faces four counts of sexual conduct toward a minor. Other charges include kidnapping, interference with custody and enticing a minor into sexual exploitation.
