Man accused of sexual assault, human trafficking

Paul B. Johnson, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·1 min read

Apr. 29—HIGH POINT — A High Point man has been charged with first-degree forcible rape, human trafficking and sexual servitude in a case that involved a girl being lured to High Point across state lines.

High Point Police Department officers arrested Joseph D. Santora, 43, on Friday.

On Feb. 1 police received a report of a sexual assault involving a juvenile. Detectives spoke to the girl, who said she met a man online and ran away from home to meet him. The girl said the man bought her bus ticket.

Detectives confirmed the girl had been reported missing in another state.

The girl didn't know the man's real name. Through an investigation, detectives with the High Point Police Department's Special Victims Unit gathered evidence and identified the man as Santora, police said Monday.

An arrest report indicates that Santora was taken into custody on charges unrelated to the juvenile at 9:40 a.m. Friday at Willard Dairy Road and Holstein Drive in north High Point.

Santora, who was driving a blue 2005 Toyota Corolla, was stopped for a lane change violation and wouldn't exit the car when asked to do so by officers. No one was injured during the arrest, police told The High Point Enterprise.

Santora, who had a handgun, was cited at the scene on misdemeanor charges of resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer and improper lane change or failure to maintain lane control, according to the arrest report.

Police said further information wasn't being released because the case remains an active investigation.

pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul