What to Know
- A Florida man who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old New Jersey girl at a hotel last year has been sentenced to 15 years in prison
- Federal prosecutors say Liam Heim met the Collingswood girl in an online chat room he had created for anime fans
- He picked the girl up and brought her to a hotel near the Philadelphia airport sexually assaulted her for 36 hours before police arrived
A Florida man who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old New Jersey girl at a hotel in Philadelphia last year has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.
Liam Heim will also be on lifetime supervised release under the sentence imposed Thursday. The 23-year-old St. Petersburg man pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts stemming from the March 2018 incident.
Federal prosecutors say Heim met the Collingswood girl in an online chat room he had created for anime fans. Over the course of several months, he led her to believe they were in a romantic relationship.
He eventually flew to New Jersey, picked her up and brought her to a hotel near Philadelphia International Airport. He then sexually assaulted her for 36 hours before police found them and arrested Heim.