SC man charged with having sex with 15-year-old reported missing from Virginia

A 15-year-old girl reported missing in Virginia was found living with a 39-year-old Upstate South Carolina man, who was arrested and charged with 15 counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Spartanburg County Sheriff’s deputies went to a house in Roebuck, S.C., Wednesday after receiving a call about a teen missing since last summer. After deputies found her, Emergency Medical Services officials took her to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center for a medical exam.

The girl told an investigator with the special victims unit there had been multiple incidents of sexual intercourse between Jan. 3 and March 3. She was placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services.

Lt. Kevin Bobo, spokesman for the Spartanburg Sheriff’s Office, said the suspect told investigators he picked up the teen in Mexico and has been giving her family money.

After he took her to Virginia to live with her grandfather, they remained in contact. He brought her to South Carolina last summer, according to Bobo.

Oscar Alberto Cruz-Ruiz, who lives on Brown Street in Roebuck, was charged with 15 counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

He was being held in the Spartanburg County Detention Center.

This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 9:36 AM.