A Weldon man was arrested and charged Friday with statutory rape in a case involving a 14-year-old child who had been reported as a runaway.
Chief Deputy Scott Hall of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office confirmed this afternoon the child was the victim in the case. He declined comment on the child’s gender.
The eventual arrest of Ronnie Washington, 38, began with a report of a runaway child around 3 a.m. on January 19 in the area of Bynum’s Bridge Road in the Scotland Neck area.
Deputy P. Moyer was speaking with the child’s father when a vehicle stopped in the road and seconds later pulled off and continued to travel, Hall said in a statement.
Moyer conducted an investigative stop and learned the passenger was the juvenile who had been reported as a runaway.
Further investigation by Detective T. Clark and Moyer led to warrants being issued for the arrest of Washington for statutory rape.
Washington received a $250,000 bond and February 17 court date.