Missouri man sentenced for sex crime with girl he met online

ST. LOUIS -- A Missouri man was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for raping a 15-year-old he met online, an Ohio girl held captive in his home for about a month.

Christopher Schroeder, 42, of Marthasville pleaded guilty in July in federal court in St. Louis to one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

State charges of statutory rape are pending.

Schroeder's attorney did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

Schroeder met the girl from the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn, Ohio, through an internet chat forum in November 2015, according to court documents.

He drove to Ohio and picked her up, then took her back to his home in Marthasville, 50 miles west of St. Louis.

Federal court documents state Schroeder videotaped two of the sex acts without the girl's knowledge.

The teen had been reported missing for about a month before she was found.

The Associated Press generally doesn't name victims of sexual assault.

Authorities said Schroeder destroyed her cellphone and told her to change her appearance and use a different name.

The girl told Schroeder she wanted to go home, according to authorities.

They said she was afraid to leave on her own because he had several guns in the house.

Court records show Schroeder told authorities after his arrest he thought the girl was 18, and someone else had brought her to Missouri.

Facebook messages helped break the case.

Prosecutors said one of the messages read: "I haven't hurt her, I don't plan on it, but she keeps crying."