"Marine at Camp Pendleton Faces Charges for Assaulting Minor"

A Marine at Camp Pendleton in Southern California has been charged with sexual assault of a minor after a 14-year-old girl was found in the military barracks. The Marine is also accused of violating liberty restriction from a prior unrelated case. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled, and the command will review the charges and evidence to determine if the case should proceed to court-martial. The girl had been reported missing by her grandmother, and her aunt claimed on TikTok that she had been "sold to a soldier for sex." The investigation is being conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service with assistance from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force.