27-year-old sentenced to prison for raping child victim he found on Snapchat

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — A 27-year-old Somerset man pleaded guilty to child rape charges, according to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office of Thomas Quinn.

Ian Anderson, 27, of Somerset pleaded guilty to charges of child rape and forced rape of a child.

According to the District Attorney’s office, around Nov. 17, 2022, the parents of the 15-year-old victim discovered messages confirming that their child engaged in intercourse with Anderson.

The communications between the child and the Anderson occurred on Snapchat.

The defendant used the alias, “Nacho_Medeiros” on the chat app.

After investigating, the child confirmed with officials that she met Anderson on Snapchat’s “quick add” feature.

Before they arranged for plans to meet, Snapchat messages revealed that Anderson had acknowledged that the girl was underage and proceeded to pursue engagement anyways.

According to officials, the victim shared that after discovering Anderson’s age she was not keen on meeting, but the defendant insisted.

Anderson picked the child up from her friend’s house and brought her back to his house.

He told the victim to lie to anyone they may see in the defendant’s house and say she is 19 years old.

He forcibly had intercourse with her, after she said no and told him that she was uncomfortable, the District Attorney shared.

Anderson will face 12 years in state prison.

A message from the District Attorney’s office said:

“This cases highlights the extreme danger of meeting a stranger online. It eventually led to the defendant committing a violent sexual assault against the victim. Fortunately her family obtained her messages which led to the defendant being arrested. As jury selection was underway, the defendant even tried to get a witness to lie on his behalf. The sentence was well-deserved and I hope the victim can move forward with her life.”