Police in Fairfax County, Va., charged a member of the U.S. Army’s prestigious Old Guard after he allegedly posted pictures of himself having sex with a 14-year-old girl online.
Spc. Matthew McKendrick, 30, of the Huntington area, met the Chesterfield, Va., girl online, picked her up in the Richmond area last month and took her 115 miles away to his home at Riverside Apartments off Route 1, where, over the course of a number of days, he had sex with her on multiple occasions, police said.
While investigating her disappearance, Chesterfield police were able to track her down and rescue her, police said.
Police charged McKendrick, who authorities say is married but estranged from his wife, with carnal knowledge of a child and possession of child pornography. He is being held without bond.
Warrants in Chesterfield charge McKendrick with statutory rape and contributing to a delinquency of a minor.
The Army said it is fully cooperating with the investigation.
The Old Guard is the traditional name for the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry, the Army's oldest active-duty infantry unit, serving since 1784. It serves as the official Army Honor Guard and escort to the president. It is the unit that maintains a 24-hour vigil at the Tomb of the Unknowns and provides funeral escorts at Arlington National Cemetery.
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