Man accused of taking 12-year-old Gainesville girl indicted on rape charges
Antonio Augustin (Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office)
DOVER, Ohio - Antonio Agustin-Ailon, the Guatemalan national accused of taking a 12-year-old Hall County girl to his Ohio home, is now facing new charges.
According to the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office, Agustin-Ailon has been indicted on two charges of rape, a single count of gross sexual imposition, two counts of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, and a single count of interference with custody.
He remains in the Tuscarawas County Jail without bond.
The 34-year-old man is accused of meeting a 12-year-old Gainesville girl online and eventually taking her to Dover, Ohio, where he lives, around May 29, when the girl was last seen. The girl’s disappearance sparked a nearly two-month search.
The girl contacted her family through Facebook Messenger, telling them she was "OK" and for them to stop looking for her. Detectives were able to track the IP address used in those messages to a phone in Ohio.
Four sheriff's investigators traveled to Ohio this week and spotted the girl at a city swimming pool on July 25. Law enforcement officials followed them to a nearby store, where he was taken into custody, and she recovered safely.
Prosecutors initially wanted Agustin-Ailon to be extradited to Georgia to face charges, but prosecutors believe the more serious crimes occurred in Ohio, where most of the witnesses to those crimes are.
Georgia prosecutors say they will move forward with filing relevant charges in Hall County, likely through a Grand Jury presentation, as Tuscarawas County proceeds with its case.
This story is being reported from Atlanta. Due to the new charges filed in this case, FOX 5 is no longer identifying the girl in this case.