(LEX 18) — A 37-year-old man has been charged with federal crimes after authorities say he traveled to Kentucky to pick up a 13-year-old he met on a dating app and allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with her.
A federal affidavit filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky detailed that Christian Delgado was arrested on Dec. 26, 2025, at a Silver Spring, Maryland home where the missing teenager was found after being gone for more than two months.
The case began Oct. 14, 2025, when the Rockcastle County Sheriff's Office issued an endangered juvenile runaway alert for the 13-year-old girl, who was last seen in the Wolf Creek Road area of Orlando, Kentucky. The U.S. Marshals Service joined the investigation two weeks later.
According to the affidavit, Delgado met the teenager on PURE, a mobile dating app.
On Dec. 26 the teenager called her aunt and provided her location, the affidavit reported.
U.S. Marshals and Montgomery County Police responded to the reported address and recovered the teenager without incident.
During questioning, Delgado told investigators he was the teenager's "boyfriend" and that they had met online, the affidavit revealed. Delgado also reportedly told investigators he drove from Florida to Kentucky to pick up the teenager, and then took her briefly to Florida before traveling to Maryland.
Delgado is charged with traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct under federal law, the affidavit read.
Delgado was initially arrested on a state kidnapping warrant from Rockcastle County before federal charges were filed.
