Bigler man charged with kidnapping teen – GantNews.com

CLEARFIELD – A Bigler man is behind bars for allegedly kidnapping a 14-year-old girl with a plan to take her out of state.

Christopher R. Swoope, 23, is charged by Clearfield Area Police with aggravated kidnapping of a minor, interference with child custody, concealing the location of a child, corruption of a minor and criminal use of communications facilities, as well as misdemeanor forcing a child into a motor vehicle enticement and indecent assault.

According to the affidavit, the victim's parents had recently discovered that she was chatting with an adult man on the social media app SnapChat and contacted police on Sept. 28 after it was revealed that she was planning to go to South Carolina with him to travel.

They allowed officers to search the victim's phone, which led to the discovery of several messages that “Chris” had sent the victim approximately an hour earlier. Using the Snap Maps feature, police determined his location was in the Morrisdale area and contacted Clearfield State Police for assistance.

A few minutes later, officers were notified that state police had stopped the man's vehicle near his suspected location; However, the victim was not with him and was later found by police officers in another apartment.

The victim told police she met the man, now identified as Swoope, through a friend and they chatted on SnapChat for a few weeks while he tried to help her deal with a situation.

She said she used a “burner” phone to arrange for Swoope to pick her up at a specific location in Clearfield, and as they left the area and parked, he placed her hand on his private area.

The victim then said Swoope placed his hand on her inner thigh area and began to move forward; However, she didn't allow it as she didn't want Swoope to get into trouble.

She said she planned to go to South Carolina with Swoope for a while and he also made a comment about wanting to get her pregnant.

In one of his interviews with police, Swoope claimed that he and the victim exchanged messages over SnapChat for about five days and that she told him she was 17 years old.

He reportedly admitted to picking her up several times, including on September 28th. He said they kissed three times – twice in a Clearfield Borough park, and the third time during their sexual encounter that day, which he said took place near his garage.

He then took the victim to his girlfriend's apartment, where she allegedly smoked marijuana. At one point he went to grease a truck but was on his way back when he was stopped by state police.

Swoope said he and the victim planned to leave on Tuesday, Oct. 1, for South Carolina, where he was assembling carnival rides.

Swoope denied ever sending or receiving inappropriate photos with the victim; However, during a search of his phone, police discovered three images of the victim – one of which was inappropriate.

It was also discovered that Swoope had added the victim on SnapChat on Sept. 23, police said.

Swoope is being held in the Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.