Federal prison is ordered for man in sexually motivated trek with 13-year-old Missouri girl

A man whose online relationship with a 13-year-old Missouri girl morphed into a cross-country, sexually motivated trip was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison.

Raymond C. Vallia III, 56, previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to taking the Henry County, Mo., girl across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity.

According to documents filed in federal court, authorities learned of the relationship between the 56-year-old Vallia and the girl after her mother reported her missing in late March 2015.

Authorities issued an Amber Alert after the girl’s mother couldn’t find her and noticed the home’s back door was open.

Investigators soon discovered that the girl and Vallia had been communicating online since December 2014, trading sexually explicit messages and pictures of each other.

The girl initially told Vallia she was 16 and he claimed to be a teenager before they admitted their true ages to each other.

Eventually they made plans to live together, with the girl posing as his daughter and attending school in New Mexico.

Last spring, Vallia drove to Missouri and picked up the girl.

They drove to Amarillo, Texas, where they spent the night in a motel and had sex.

After obtaining Vallia’s cellphone number and vehicle description, authorities located Vallia driving on Interstate 40 in New Mexico. The girl was in his vehicle.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Federal prison is ordered for man in sexually motivated trek with 13-year-old Missouri girl."