Courtesy of Facebook
Reyes met his 15-year-old victim on Facebook.
By Forum Staff
A 31-year-old Jamaica man has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old Canadian teen in August of 2014. District Attorney Brown said, “Social media is a great opportunity for youngsters to meet people from all over the world, but that access can also be dangerous. The defendant in this case used Facebook to establish a relationship with the then-15-year-old girl and convinced her to run away from her family when they visited New York City. The defendant had sex with the teenager and held her against her will when she wanted to leave. As a result of his criminal actions, the defendant will be locked away from society for a long time.”
Santiago Reyes, 31, of 144th Street in Jamaica, was convicted last month, in a jury trial on counts of second-degree kidnapping and third-degree rape. Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert Kohm, sentenced the defendant to 16 years in prison to be followed by five years’ post release supervision.
According to trial testimony, Reyes met the teen, who lived in Toronto, Canada and was 15 at the time, on Facebook.
He continued communicating with her online for nine months, urging her to run away after she had confided that her parents were too strict and she was being bullied at a new school.
When the girl and her family visited New York City, the defendant picked up the girl when the parents were out, and took her to his house. Reyes, who was much older than the teenager expected, manipulated her into having sexual intercourse with him. When she stated she wanted to leave, the defendant refused to let her go.
