Warrant: California Man Exchanged Sexual Images With Rochester Girl, Mailed Her Phones & Drugs
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- An arrest warrant has been issued for a California man accused of exchanging sexually explicit images with a young girl from Rochester.
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The warrant was filed in Olmsted County Court on Tuesday. The victim was 10 or 11 years old when the relationship began, the charges say.
24-year-old David Padilla is accused of carrying out a long distance relationship with the young girl. Their communications were discovered in May of 2023 by the victim’s family member.
Rochester police were notified the victim’s family found messages between the teen and California man in May of 2023. The charges say the girl and Padilla met on Instagram and would talk to each other 20 times per day by Facetime and Instagram.
Communication between the two had temporarily stopped after Padilla’s contact information was eliminated from the girl’s phone. Police learned the young girl and California man had resumed communicating this past May, the court document says.
Arrest Warrant: California Man Sent Young Rochester Girl Phones, Drugs and Gifts During Long Distance Relationship Involving Exchange of Sexually Explicit Images
The warrant accuses Padilla of sending the victim multiple phones, pain killers and other gifts to the girl's neighbor, who would then relay the packages to the victim.
Padilla was told over the phone by two of the victim’s family members that the young girl was 11 and he responded by asking about the young girl, saying he comes to Minnesota sometimes and said he had photos of the young girl that he will "show everything," the charges say.
Padilla also said he and the young girl have had sexual contact. During two interviews with investigators, the victim said she and Padilla had exchanged sexually explicit images and that she forced him to stay with her, according to the complaint.
She also said the two showed each other their intimate body parts during a video chat in the summer of 2023. Investigators found sexually explicit screenshots of Padilla that were captured during a video chat that occurred this past April on a phone that Padilla sent to the victim, the charge say.
The arrest warrant charges Padilla with felony counts of soliciting a child via electronic communication to engage in sexual conduct, engaging in electronic communication describing sexual conduct with a child and distributing electronic material related to sexual conduct with a child.
Court records indicate Padilla resides in the Los Angeles area. He is not in local custody as of Tuesday night, according to Olmsted County Jail records.
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