An Indiana man who allegedly drove to Bergen County to have sex with a 15-year-old girl he met in an online chat room has been indicted on charges of sexual assault, child endangerment, and hindering apprehension.
A grand jury sitting in Hackensack returned a 14-count indictment last week against Joshua Elkins, 32, of Fort Wayne, Ind., who is accused of having committed the alleged offenses between September 2012 and January 2013.
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Elkins, a convicted sex offender, was arrested in Indiana in January 2013 after his relationship with the then 15-year-old Mahwah girl was reported to school officials by an acquaintance of his, authorities have said.
He met the girl in a Russian Roulette-style chat room, initiating an exchange that the pair later moved to their cellphones, according to an account given by the Mahwah police.
Elkins made the 10-hour drive to New Jersey in December 2012 and allegedly sexually assaulted the girl over two days at a Mahwah home and in a Paramus hotel room.
The indictment charges him with attempting to lure or entice the girl into a car and/or building; multiple counts of criminal sexual contact and sexual assault; engaging in conduct that would impair or debauch the morals of a child; hindering his apprehension by means of force or intimidation; and witness tampering.
Indiana state records show that Elkins has at least one prior conviction for sexual misconduct with a minor, according to police.
Omegle, the roulette-style chat website that Elkins used, randomly pairs users in one-on-one chat sessions where they chat anonymously. The site allows users to socialize with strangers without registering, making it harder for law enforcement to trace users, police said.
Elkins has been held at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack in lieu of $200,000 bail since March 2013. He is expected to be arraigned on the charges in the indictment within six weeks.
