MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- A Pennsylvania man is facing four counts of Aggravated Statutory Rape after police say he drove to Tennessee to have sex with a mid-state teen.
Murfreesboro Police say they arrested 29-year-old Bradley Difrischia on Sunday after locating him at the Jackson Motel on Northwest Broad Street.
The arrest report states that the parents of the 15-year-old girl involved caught her sneaking back into her home at around sunrise Sunday. They called police to say they feared she had just returned from a meeting at the motel with an older man.
During questioning at police headquarters, police say Difrischia confessed to meeting the girl online. They two reportedly arranged the meeting anonymously using a phone app called Kik.
Sharon deBoer with the Child Advocacy Center in Murfreesboro says her staff has seen a growing number of cases of mid-state children being abused by sexual predators who connect with kids using Kik and a second app called Yik Yak.
“Most parents and grandparents in Middle Tennessee know about Facebook. They know about Myspace, Snapchat and Instagram, but they are not familiar with Kik and Yik Yak and other messaging systems that are anonymous.”
deBoer urges parents to search their children's phones for these apps immediately, delete them if they’re found, and ask hard questions about how the apps have been used.