Who is Ki-Shawn Crumity? Pittsburgh man arrested after missing girl, 13, found in a box in his basement
Ki-Shawn Crumity, 26, is facing charges including corruption of minors, sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, and more.
A 13-year-old girl who disappeared from Louisiana has been found four days later in a box covered with a sheet in the basement of a Pittsburgh home. The teen was found following a multi-state search that started with a Snapchat message, leading to allegations of kidnapping, trafficking, and sexual assault. 26-year-old Ki-Shawn Crumity was arrested at his home on Davis Avenue in connection with the case.
Who is Ki-Shawn Crumity?
Crumity was arrested after SWAT officers executed a search warrant and discovered the missing girl hidden in the basement. The City of Pittsburgh said in a statement that Crumity, of Pittsburgh, was charged with “numerous felony and misdemeanor charges including trafficking in individuals, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, sexual assault, and corruption of minors.”
Crumity was transported to the Allegheny County Jail, and was denied bail there. An active and ongoing federal investigation is underway.
A second man, 62-year-old Ronald Smith, of New Orleans, was arrested too. He was arrested in Columbus, Georgia, on charges of simple kidnapping and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, as reported by Independent.
Here’s what happened
Police said that the teen, who has not been named, met Crumity on Snapchat. He allegedly told her that he “was to get her adopted by a trusted adult,” a criminal complaint obtained by CBS News revealed. Smith, along with another man, brought the girl from Baton Rouge to Georgia before putting her on a Greyhound bus to Pittsburgh.
The girl met a woman at the bus station, following which the girl messaged Crumity and told him she was bringing a friend to Pittsburgh. After they arrived, the teen, the woman and Crumity all slept in the same bed in the basement of the Davis Avenue home, cops said.
The complaint stated that Crumity gave some edibles to the girl, as well as alcohol, and sexually assaulted her “at least once or twice a day” during the week she was there. The girl told investigators that Crumity said “he knew she was a runaway” and that “he would get in trouble.”
A police SWAT team raided the home on Thursday, October 30, after the FBI obtained a search warrant. The search was launched after the Pittsburgh Police Special Victims Unit received a report from the U.S. Marshals Service about a minor who had gone missing from Louisiana.
The complaint stated that the girl later told authorities that being at the hospital after being rescued was “the safest she ever felt.”
“Very proud of my LBI agents in helping to locate this child,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said, according to Independent. “She was groomed, exploited, and then sexually abused by strangers who found her online. This is just one example of the dangers of social media and of human trafficking.”
Officials have said that further arrests and more charges are expected.
