ASTORIA, Ore. — An Everett man accused of abducting a 15-year-old California girl he met online, sexually assaulting her and finally letting her go in Oregon was arrested Thursday by police and FBI agents on the north Oregon Coast.
Russell Wayne Deviney, 48, was arrested near Cannon Beach, The Daily Astorian reported.
The man was arrested for investigation of offenses including first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse. He had been sought on a nationwide felony warrant.
Deviney was expected to appear Friday in Clatsop County Circuit Court.
“We cannot go into specific details about the information we’ve obtained during our investigation, but I think the charges speak for themselves,” Astoria Police Deputy Chief Eric Halverson said.
The man is accused of abducting the girl on Saturday in Sanger, Calif. She reportedly thought she was meeting an 18-year-old man. The man left her Monday evening at a fast-food restaurant in Astoria.
The girl was later reunited with her family, who drove up from their home in Sanger.
Police say a passer-by spotted the man in a privately owned wooded area south of Cannon Beach. When authorities asked his name, the newspaper said, he replied, “I’m the guy you’re looking for.”
Court documents say the girl had spoken on Instagram with someone she thought was a teenager called “JR.” She told investigators she had been upset with her mother last Friday and told “JR,” who suggested they take a one-day vacation. She left her home with an overnight bag and went to meet her online contact. When she first encountered the man, he was wearing a hood, hiding his face. He eventually acknowledged he was older, the documents said.
“Once she realized the person she was meeting actually was a 48-year-old man, she was already in the vehicle and under Deviney’s control,” Halverson said. When the girl told the man she wanted to go home, she says, he disabled her phone, although she apparently was able to send her mother a couple of brief messages.
The girl told investigators that the man received a phone call Monday from police. Court papers said he parked his pickup at a McDonald’s in Astoria, collected his belongings and left.
The girl walked inside and said she had been abducted.
“This case highlights the benefits and the dangers of social media. The victim in this case did not have any way to verify the identity of the person she had been corresponding with,” Astoria Police Chief Brad Johnston said.
