Man, 43, Posed as Girl's Dad to Check Her Out of School, Then Allegedly Raped Her in Abandoned House: Complaint

A Kentucky man is facing multiple charges of rape and solicitation after he allegedly traveled to Alabama to meet an underage high school student so that he could rape her.

Justin Stephens, 43, is accused of driving more than 450 miles from his home in Lowmansville to meet a 15-year-old student from Central High School in Florence.

A lawsuit filed by the alleged victim’s mother, which was obtained by PEOPLE, claims that once at the school, Stephens called and pretended to be the girl’s father so that he could check her out for the day.

Subsequently, according to the lawsuit, the man raped her.

“Stephens left school with [the alleged victim] and took her to an abandoned house … where she was raped and sodomized. The minor can be seen on security cameras returning to Central School with Stephens around 2:00 p.m. in his black Dodge truck,” the lawsuit claims.

The parents of the alleged victim discovered the alleged rape after confiscating a cell phone from their daughter, according to the lawsuit.

After seeing the alleged exchanges between their daughter and Stephens, they notified law enforcement.

Police arrested Stephens in October 2024, and he was indicted in January 2025 on charges of traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act, rape in the 2nd degree and enticement of a child for unlawful purpose, according to the indictment, which was obtained by PEOPLE.

Last month, deputies transferred Stephens from the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office to the Colbert County Sheriff’s Office.

A motion filed at the time noted that Stephens had yet to post his $365,000 bond and was facing eight additional charges in the neighboring county after allegedly taking the teen to a hotel in the area according to police.

A judge signed off on the motion and Stephens transferred jails while also racking up a slew of new charges.

In addition to the aforementioned Lauderdale County charges, Stephens is now also facing counts of: rape in the 1st degree, rape in the 2nd degree, sodomy in the 2nd degree, two counts of electronic solicitation of a child, interference with custody and and two counts of traveling to meet a child for unlawful sex act.

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After his transfer, Stephens became one of the first people in the state held in custody under Aniah’s Law, which gives judges the right to deny suspects accused of rape and murder bond.

Stephens has yet to enter a plea to any of the charges and his public defender did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Meanwhile, the alleged victim’s mother is also suing the school and select administrators, claiming they did not follow protocol when they released her daughter into Stephens’ custody.

The Lauderdale School System has yet to respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, but previously said after Stephens’ arrest last year: “The Lauderdale County School System is aware of the ongoing investigation and is cooperating fully with law enforcement agencies. Out of respect for the privacy of our students, as well as the ongoing nature of the investigation, we will have no further comments.”

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.