A 24-year-old California man is facing felony charges after Union County deputies say he traveled roughly 2,600 miles to meet an underage girl at a Wesley Chapel park.
Daniel Castillo of Oxnard, California, was arrested at Dogwood Park on Lester Davis Road after a concerned citizen called 911 on Sunday, Oct. 4, to report a disturbance between a male and a female, according to the Union County Sheriff's Office, as first reported by QC News.
Deputies arriving at the park found a juvenile girl walking away from a truck Castillo was sitting in, according to the sheriff's office. Castillo allegedly admitted to giving the girl alcohol and vaping products and was initially charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The case grew more serious from there.
Special Victims Unit detectives determined that Castillo and the juvenile had met through Snapchat and communicated for months before he made the cross-country trip, the sheriff's office said. He was then also charged with solicitation of a minor by computer under North Carolina General Statute § 14-202.3. That statute makes it a felony to use a computer to entice a child under 16 to meet for the purpose of committing a sexual offense.
The Charlotte Observer, citing the Union County arrest warrant, identified the victim as a 15-year-old girl and described the relationship as an "online dating relationship." The warrant described Castillo's trip as approximately 2,600 miles. Castillo lives in Oxnard, about 55 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
Castillo is being held at the Union County Jail on a $210,000 secured bond. The investigation remains active. Search warrants have been obtained and electronic devices are being examined, the sheriff's office said. Additional charges could follow depending on what investigators find.
The sheriff's office said the 911 caller helped deputies uncover a far more serious situation than the initial disturbance call suggested. The agency urged residents to report anything that looks out of place.
The same Special Victims Unit that investigated the Castillo case has been ramping up its work on internet crimes against children. On Jan. 15, Sheriff Eddie Cathey said the unit ranked fourth in North Carolina for related arrests in 2025, up from sixth the year before. "If you're thinking about committing these crimes in Union County, you need to think again," Cathey said at the time, according to WCNC.
No court date for Castillo has been announced. Residents with information about the case can contact the Union County Sheriff's Office at (704) 283-3789.
