A 20-year-old Chattanooga man has been charged with statutory rape after allegedly having sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl and telling her he would kill her if she stopped seeing him.
On Tuesday, police responded to a call from the victim’s father. When the father discovered the relationship between his daughter and 20-year-old Marcus Preston, he told her to cut off contact with him. She did so, but Preston retaliated by vandalizing the father’s truck and the victim’s grandmother’s car, police said.
The victim said Preston threatened to kill her after she cut off contact, and she began speaking to him again.
She said they met two years ago through Facebook, and began having sex when she was 14. The victim alleged Preston knew she was a minor after a certain point, and continued to have sex with her anyway.
The father showed threatening and vulgar text messages Preston sent to his daughter after the “break-up.” The day the police interviewed the victim and her father, Preston attempted to speak with the victim at school. Preston was quickly escorted off school property.
Police attempted to speak with Preston, but he refused to do so. Preston told police he had hired a lawyer.