FL man charged with kidnapping 14-year-old girl from southern Erie County; arrested in WV

Ed Palattella, Erie Times-News
·2 min read
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Editor's note: An update to this story is available here.

A 47-year-old Florida man has been jailed in West Virginia on charges that he kidnapped a 14-year-old Erie County girl after contacting her on social media and sending sexually explicit messages to her.

The girl was taken from near her home in Amity Township, near Wattsburg in southeastern Erie County, but was found safe and has been returned to her family, the Pennsylvania State Police in Corry said on Thursday in a news release announcing the arrest of the defendant, Thomas E. Grossman III.

The arrest occurred in West Virginia on Wednesday, when local police in Summersville spotted Grossman's car in a Walgreens parking lot, state police said. Summersville is off Route 19, a north-south highway in central West Virginia that connects Interstates 79 and 64, which leads to Interstate 77.

Grossman had been heading south, state police said. The court docket for his case lists his residence as Tampa, Florida.

Grossman on Thursday remained jailed on a $500,000 bond at the Central Regional Jail, in Flatwoods, West Virginia. His extradition is pending, state police said.

Grossman is charged with the first-degree felony of kidnapping, the second-degree felony of interference with the custody of a child, the third-degree felony of concealment of the whereabouts of a child and the first-degree misdemeanor of corruption of minors, according to the docket.

State police accused Grossman of starting a relationship with the girl on social media and then exchanging sexually explicit photos with her. On Tuesday, state police determined that Grossman and the girl communicated "multiple times" on the telephone over the past 24 hours, police said in the news release.

Police said Grossman picked up the girl near her residence in Amity Township and drove south.

The FBI is helping in the investigation, state police said. The police said the Erie County District Attorney's Office authorized the charges.

State police asked anyone with information related to the case to contact the lead investigator, Trooper Eric Conroe, at the state police's Troop E station in Corry, 814-663-2043.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Florida man charged with kidnapping Erie County Pa. girl, 14