Man Arrested After Alleged Sexual Assault of Missing Tyler Teen

(KNUE-FM) Law enforcement is reporting that a man sexually assaulted a 15-year-old runaway at a Tyler motel room, but the man has since been arrested. According to CBS 19, James Brummett is now facing charges of sexually assaulting a girl who was reported missing.

Tyler Man Arrested After Missing Teen Investigation

48-year-old James Brummett was booked into the Smith County Jail on a $500,000 bond. His charges include sexual assault of a child.

READ MORE: Texas Man Arrested in Tyler Undercover Operation

Grandmother Reported the Teen Missing

The incident began after the girl’s grandmother reported the child missing after the girl’s Life360 app was removed from her phone. The grandmother was receiving texts from the girl saying she was okay, but currently in Canton. Those text messages were coming from Brummett’s phone number, but the grandmother had no idea.

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Grandmother Reported the Teen Missing

The girl left her grandmother’s house to visit a friend on February 20. Two days later, the grandmother began receiving text messages that she believes were not true. The girl was then found on February 24 in a parking garage inside a vehicle.

The child admitted to using illegal drugs and being with Brummett in a motel room and she said that he knew how old she was.

In an interview with police, the girl says that she stayed with a friend for two nights and left the friend's house on February 24. She went to a Walmart Neighborhood Market. She was then offered a ride by Brummett and she accepted. She then agreed to go to his motel room at the Relax Inn on Gentry Parkway.

The girl then admitted to doing “sexual things” with Brummett in the motel room.

Brummett told police that after first saying she was 18 the girl later admitted to being 17. When officers told Brummett that the girl was 15, he made comments about her “not looking that young.”