A 27-year-old trucker was caught with a missing 12-year-old girl over 100 miles from her home.

On December 28, the victim’s mother reported her missing, according to 12News. She informed the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office that she believed her daughter was with a man named Liam Wallace, 27. Law enforcement received all the information the mother had on Wallace.

The missing girl’s mother told police that her daughter had previously run away, and Wallace was the man who brought her home. Wallace had claimed to the mother that he was the father of the girl’s 13-year-old boyfriend, but police later discovered that he had lied.

On December 31, Kane County Sheriff’s Office deputies found Wallace and the young girl in Utah, inside Wallace’s semi-truck. When questioned, Wallace initially claimed he was with his “lady” and insisted that the girl was 19 years old.

Deputies confirmed that the girl was the missing Arizona child and took Wallace into custody.

The child reported that she and Wallace had engaged in sexual activity in Nevada and Arizona, though Wallace denied the allegations.

Authorities believe that the pair met online in a teen chatroom around October. Wallace admitted that they had met several times before the arrest and had traveled to California and Nevada together.

After executing a search warrant, authorities discovered six electronic devices associated with Wallace. They also recovered women’s apparel and journals that likely belonged to other girls or women, according to AZFamily.

Wallace could face 10 years to life in prison for federal child sex trafficking charges, AZFamily reported.

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