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for 2023

A U.S. Marine is in custody after a missing 14-year-old girl with learning disabilities was found in the barracks of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California.

The Details: According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, military police found the girl on June 28, over two weeks after she was reported missing. The Marine hasn't been identified or officially charged. The girl's family has accused the Marine of buying her for sex and raping her after she ran away from home. The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force is among the agencies investigating.

Key Quotes: "We can confirm that a Marine with Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 1st Marine Logistics Group was taken into custody for questioning by Naval Criminal Investigative Services on June 28, 2023, as seen on social media July 2, 2023," a military official said. "The incident is under investigation, and we will continue to cooperate with NCIS and appropriate authorities."

How the Media Covered It: Some center- and right-rated sources focused more on the family's claims that the girl was raped, and on other recent cases of enlisted men sexually abusing minors. Left-rated sources focused more on statements about the matter from law enforcement. Citing this story as proof, some conservative voices accused critics of Sound of Freedom, a new movie starring a conservative actor about efforts to thwart child sex trafficking, of wrongly framing child sex trafficking as a QAnon conspiracy.