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Man Charged In Sex Assault Of 13-Year Old Detroit Girl

A Massachusetts man, who fought extradition to Michigan, has been charged for having sex with a 13-year old Detroit  girl he met in an online game.

Wayne County Sheriff's officials allege 54-year old John Phillips had sexual contact with the girl after chatting with her on the Internet.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Corporal Ray Johnson said the girl's mother tipped off police.

Phillips-John
John Phillips, Booking Photo

"She believed her daughter was communicating with an adult.  I brought them in for an investigation and found out that she was sending text messages back and forth to an adult male out of Massachusetts," Johnson said.

Sheriff's officials say that after Phillips met the girl in the online role-playing game "RuneScape," he bought her a cell phone, and then travelled to Detroit to have sex with her on three occasions.

"It's sickening to see that someone would prey on a child, with the type of language that he used... the actual consummation of the sexual act. Coming all the way from Massachusetts to the Detroit area to have sex with a 13-year old girl," Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said.

Phillips has been charged with criminal sexual conduct -- 11 felony counts in total related to this case. A pretrial hearing is set for Thursday.

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