Man pretends to be teen online, then sex trafficks 13-year-old, PA officials say
A Kentucky man was arrested after officials said he pretended to be a teenager, then sex trafficked a 13-year-old Pennsylvania girl.
Zachary Lee McCauley, 29, of Louisville is charged with trafficking in individuals, sexual exploitation of children, corruption of minors and criminal use of a communication facility, and three counts each of unlawful contact with a minor and sexual abuse of children, according to a news release from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania.
He also was charged with solicitation to commit statutory sexual assault, solicitation to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, solicitation to commit patronizing victim of sexual servitude, solicitation to commit aggravated indecent assault, and solicitation to commit sexual abuse of children, the release said.
Attorney information for McCauley was not available.
In February, detectives began investigating a report of a 13-year-old girl being sex trafficked.
The girl was using Snapchat when someone using the name “Jake” added her as a friend. Jake was McCauley, who said he was 17 years old and was aware the girl was 13, officials said.
After a few weeks of communicating, McCauley coerced the girl into sending him sexually explicit photos and videos through Snapchat, prosecutors said. She sent over 25 photos and videos.
McCauley then made threats to hurt the girl’s mother, according to officials.
He had the girl make an account on the dating app Grindr, then directed her how to use it and how to communicate with people on it, prosecutors said. He also took control of the account at times, adding photos of the girl wearing lingerie and using a different name and age for her, according to the release.
“McCauley arranged numerous encounters with men and the victim, which ultimately led to her meeting with three of them. Two of the men engaged in statutory sexual intercourse with the victim, but the third encounter ended when the male became suspicious of the victim’s age,” officials said.
The two Pennsylvania men were identified as Jon Thomas Van Ingen, 67, and Randy Francis Quinn, 42, according to the release. Attorney information for the men was not available.
During one of the sexual assaults, Quinn was on a Snapchat video call with McCauley and it was recorded, authorities said.
“I praise the mother in this case because her instincts were correct,” District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said. “And I praise the victim in this case, she is only 13 years of age, and she is so strong and she is not to be blamed for what occurred. These cases cannot succeed without the amazing team of county detectives and the other detectives throughout Bucks County who make up our Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. They use the resources and their expertise to battle these crimes every single day.”
Van Ingen is charged with statutory sexual assault, and Quinn is charged with two counts of statutory sexual assault and one count each of photographing or filming a child sex act and dissemination of photos or film of child sex acts, officials said.
This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Man pretends to be teen online, then sex trafficks 13-year-old, PA officials say."
