Man faces charges after Web connection with girl, 11

Aaron MacClellan, 23, is charged with sexually abusing the girl.

Police say they were called to a home on East Tudor Road just before 3 a.m., when the mother of the girl hosting the sleepover realized the child was missing. The victim had sneaked out to meet her acquaintance, with other children in the house thinking she would soon be back, said Sgt. Cindi Stanton, supervisor of the crimes against children unit.

The girl hadn't returned after about two hours, and the children told the mother, she said. A child who lived at the home helped police track down the person the alleged victim was communicating with on the Internet, Stanton said.

MacClellan had met the girl online a few weeks ago, when she initially told him she was 16, the legal age for sexual relations, Stanton said. After they met on Monday, however, the girl revealed her true age, she said.

Investigators learned MacClellen's mother had driven him and the girl home, where MacClellan allegedly fondled the girl and tried to get her to touch him, police said. The mother has not been charged with a crime. The investigation was continuing.

"She believed that the child was of legal age," Stanton said. "And no, the child does not look of legal age."

The girl at one point tried to stop the encounter, pushing MacClellen away and telling him no, Stanton said.

Using information provided by the victim's friend, police tracked them to MacClellan's home in the 2200 block of Muldoon Road, where they found the 11-year-old girl in a bedroom, police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said.

MacClellan was arrested on charges of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and attempted second-degree sexual abuse of a minor. His bail was set at $25,000 cash.

"Parents should check their children's MySpace, Facebook and any other kind of social networking they're doing online and make sure they're not putting false information out there," Stanton said. "And when you've got a group of kids staying at your house, do some periodic checks on them."

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.