Kidnapped, Raped 14-Year-Old Girl Rescued Thanks to Her Snapchat

A 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped and raped in France has been located by police using Snapchat, a police spokesman confirmed on Sunday evening.

The girl, of Ardèche, southeastern France, who was kidnapped and raped in a building in the 15th arrondisement of Marseille, was found by police on January 14, France Bleu reported.

The girl, who was adopted, reportedly ran away on January 10, and was last seen by family that day when she was dropped off at the college of Annonay, according to the French radio network.

The radio network said she had previously run away to find her biological mother, who lives north of the city of Lyon.

The Ardèche and Rhône gendarmerie police looked for teenager for several days.

The girl initially managed to contact her host family for help via Snapchat messages, so that she would not be caught by her kidnappers.

At around 5 a.m. on January 14, the mother of the young girl contacted the police, saying that her daughter was kidnapped, raped, beaten and possibly drugged during the night, but did not have any idea where she was.

Police then used Snapchat's tracking system and found the teenager's account, using the app to locate her. Using the system, police ascertained where the building was that she was being held in Marseille, before knocking on each apartment door in the building.

Police messaged her and told her to send "yes" by message as soon as she heard them. Rudy Manna, departmental secretary of the Alliance Police union, revealed to France Bleu that is how police located the girl.

BFM TV news reported that the girl did not know where she was, but she is now back with her family.

Manna said that two male suspects, aged 24 and 64 and known to the authorities, were arrested and place in custody. During the arrest, the older subject tried to delete videos on his phone, but police stopped him, Mana added.

They denied kidnapping the girl, but "both did not dispute the reality of sexual intercourse, but disputed having been aware of the age of the young girl and affirmed that the relations were consented," the Marseilles prosecutor's office indicated.

In France, the age of sexual consent is 15, except in cases of rape and sexual assault, where it considered a crime.

In April 2021, French parliament adopted legislation that defines sex with a child under the age of 15 as rape and punishable with up to 20 years in jail.

Although the age of consent was previously 15, French prosecutors used to be required to prove sex was non-consensual to obtain a rape conviction.