It is against the law to help a child running away from home. That’s the message the Union County Prosecutor wants people to know.
The Union County Grand Jury has indicted Rylan Lester John Ayers, 19, of 1480 U.S. 36, lot 54, Marysville and Jared Taylor Parmley, 26, of Bucyrus. Ayers and Parmley are each charged with one count of interference with custody, a fifth-degree felony.
According to court documents, on Oct. 2, Ayers was visiting his girlfriend, a 17 year-old Marysville girl. About 10 p.m., the girl told her mother that she was going to take the boyfriend home and that she would be home in about an hour.
“She never returned home,” Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said.
He said there was a note, apparently from the girl, telling her family she was intending to leave.
The girl’s mother filed a missing person report with Marysville Police Department and the girl was entered as a missing person.
According to court documents, investigators learned that Parmley, who lived with Ayers at a halfway house, also left with the pair.
Investigators learned the girl had told a friend that she and Ayers were running to Florida and destroying their phones.
Ayers was on parole and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The next day, the girl’s license plate was caught on a license plate camera in Sweetwater, Tennessee.
Law enforcement officials notified police and media in Florida about Ayers and the girl.
On Oct. 5, investigators learned that Ayers and the girl were in Daytona Beach, Florida.
“An individual had contact with them and sensed that something was suspicious,” Phillips said.
The individual met the girl on the boardwalk and she appeared to be on drugs, he said.
The witness went to social media and learned the girl was reported as missing. He contacted police in Marysville who contacted the Daytona Beach Shores Police Department.
Investigators found Ayers, Parmley and the girl in a hotel in that area.
Parmley and Ayers were arrested on the warrants and the girl was transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice Facility in Daytona Beach.
Phillips said the men were on probation from the Union County Common Pleas Court and therefore not allowed to cross state lines.
He explained that Ayers and Parmley “did not have permission from the parent to take the child from the state.”
“At least the initial investigation, it appears she left with them consensually, but as she is a minor, that is irrelevant,” Phillips said.
The prosecutor explained that when the group crossed state lines with the girl, the action became a felony.
Phillips said that even though the girl left in her own vehicle and was driving, “she didn’t just run away, they were with her.”
He said it is illegal to help a child flee the custody of their parents. He said children cannot rent motel rooms, perform certain bank transactions or do other things necessary to survive without help. He said that even if it was the girl’s idea, the adults would be in violation “if they encouraged her or if they did anything to help her.”
“There are still some things the police are investigating,” Phillips said.
In addition to the alleged probation violations, If convicted, Ayers and Parmley could each face as many as 12 months in prison.