Report: Ecuadorian Migrant Charged in Sexual Assault of 12-Year-Old Chicago ‘Girlfriend’ He Met on Instagram



by Amy Furr 5 Jan 2026

A migrant from Ecuador is reportedly accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old Chicago girl he met online, a place where groomers and pedophiles search for their victims.

Prosecutors alleged 22-year-old Henry Lema victimized the child, whom he later described as his “girlfriend,” inside his home, CWB Chicago reported Sunday.

When the girl’s parents called 911 in the early hours of December 23, Chicago police launched an investigation. Her parents, who said she was missing and they were unable to reach her via phone, were standing outside a home on West Crystal Street. They had apparently tracked her cellphone to what turned out to be the suspect’s address.

The girl finally answered her phone and came outside.

“Officers who arrived at the scene observed hickeys on the child’s neck and detained Lema, prosecutors said in a detention petition. He allegedly gave officers a false birthdate that would have made him 16, but police later confirmed he is 22,” the Chicago report said.

An image shows the suspect in the case:

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A 22-year-old man from Ecuador sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl he met on Instagram, prosecutors say.



cwbchicago.com
Man sexually assaulted 12-year-old he met on Instagram: prosecutors
A 22-year-old man from Ecuador has been detained on charges that he kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old Chicago girl he met through Instagram, according to prosecutors.

9:18 PM · Jan 4, 2026

The victim said she met the suspect on Instagram, claiming she told him her age and Lema allegedly told her he was 15 years old.

Lema allegedly went to the child’s home several times to meet with her outside after they began chatting through WhatsApp.

The suspect allegedly took the child to his home while assuring her nothing would happen. However, she accused him of sexually assaulting her and holding her down when she tried to escape.

“Prosecutors said that on December 23, Lema again promised nothing would happen, but once she arrived at his home, he sexually assaulted her again and left visible marks on her neck. The girl said she only learned Lema’s true age after the police arrived,” the Chicago article stated.

Lema reportedly admitted meeting the girl online while knowing she was a minor and said they had sex two times.

It is important to highlight the fact that Instagram has been rife with issues regarding dangerous predators and children, Breitbart News reported.

In 2023, reports said former employees claimed Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta enabled child predators on Facebook and Instagram, with one former executive stating, “It was a hundred times worse than any of us expected. There were millions of pedophiles targeting tens of millions of children,” per the outlet.

The following year, researchers said Instagram bombarded children with sexually suggestive videos in the minutes after accounts were created.

In May, Breitbart News reported that “Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram platform used automated algorithms that suggested children for groomers and predators to follow on the app, according to a 2019 internal company document presented by the FTC during the ongoing Meta antitrust trial.”

Per the Chicago report, authorities charged the suspect with criminal sexual assault of a victim under 13 years old and kidnapping.

https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2026...-on-instagram/