Arizona Teen Found Hiding in Marine's Home

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — A Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune faces charges after a teenage girl was found hiding in his Jacksonville home.

According to Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown, the 14-year-old girl, who ran away from her Arizona home last week, was found Monday night hiding in the bedroom closet of Mario Ramero, 20, of Pueblo Drive.

Ramero faces 25 charges, including 10 counts of statutory rape, five counts of crimes against nature and 10 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was being held in the Camp Lejeune brig Tuesday night.

News reports from Arizona said the girl allegedly met Ramero on MySpace.com. Another report said the girl's parents discovered their daughter was using two profiles on MySpace; one with her real information and another with fake pictures claiming she was 21.

Ramero told investigators that he became acquainted with the girl over the Internet while training in California. He said they continued to communicate by cell phone, and the girl bought an airline ticket online and flew to Raleigh on Nov. 22, where he picked her up.