South Carolina man rented Airbnb in Saint Louis area to have sex with 13 year old Fenton girl, charges say
A South Carolina man who met a 13-year-old Fenton girl on social media twice rented a home in the St. Louis area and had sex with the girl, authorities say.
Ryan Joseph Palmieri, 36, was charged May 3 with travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. He was arrested a few days later.
Palmieri, of Charleston, S.C., is scheduled to go before a judge there in a preliminary hearing and detention hearing on Monday.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court, Palmieri posed initially as a 17-year-old boy named Ryan on the site called MeetMe. The Fenton girl had posted her age as 15, instead of her actual age of 13.
They continued their conversations through Skype and exchanged nude photos with each other, police say. After a few months of this, Palmieri told the girl he was actually in his 30s, and he sent her a photo of his face, police say.
About three months ago, in January or February, Palmieri traveled from South Carolina to the St. Louis area, police say. He rented a home through Airbnb in the Fenton area. They had sex at her home and at the rental home, police say. The same thing happened in April, police say.
Palmieri bought the girl clothes and jewelry, police say. When her mother asked who gave them to her, the girl told her mother about Palmieri, including his age and that they had had sex, police say. In texts, Palmieri was nervous, police say. “You’re not going to jail for seven years. I am,” he allegedly told the girl.
A detective told Airbnb about the allegations, and the company gave police a copy of the drivers license provided by the renter. That license came back to Palmieri. In a photo lineup, the girl pointed to Palmieri as the man she had sex with, police say.
Photo Credit: stltoday.com