Teenager escapes from Facebook predator who posed as a teen girl, police say

(CBS/KLBK) - Police say a man in Texas posed as a teenaged girl online to lure a 13-year-old girl to a Plainview motel room.

According to CBS affiliate KLBK, Plainview Police Captain Manuel Balderas says a local teen met someone she believed to be another teenaged girl through Facebook.

"I guess the person had sent her a friend request, she accepted it and she got to 'conversating' with the girl," Balderas reportedly said.

Police say the two became friends and agreed to meet in person at a local hotel.

CNN reports that the 13-year-old's older sister drove her to the hotel, where she was greeted by an older man.

When she asked the man about where the friend was, he told her she was inside taking a shower, reports KLBK.

Balderas said as the girl began walked toward the bathroom, the suspect allegedly grabbed her and put tape over her mouth.

"She started screaming as loud as she could. He kept telling her, 'get quiet, get quiet' and he asked if she was with anybody else and she did say that her sister was outside waiting for her so at that time, I guess the guy got scared, he let her go."

The man left a fake name with the person working in the motel's lobby but Plainview police were still able to identify him and they now call him a suspect, reports KLBK.

According to the station, Balderas says police have questioned the man, who could be charged with online solicitation of a minor and unlawful restraint, but he has not been arrested.