Court records show that a Georgia man who admitted to stalking a 15-year-old girl on Snapchat and then attacking her badly in her family’s home was given a life term.
Zachary Iona, who is 22 years old, met the victim on a smartphone app in 2022 and dated her until she asked him to her house.
Local news sources say he came with duct tape, rope, and a knife. He then put a chokehold on her and sexually attacked her before stabbing her 86 times, including in the face.
Iona left the girl who was badly hurt for dead.
She was strong enough to call 911, though. She lived through the horrible event and told the court at Iona’s sentence that she feels lucky to be alive (1105).
The app Iona used to find his victim is also what the cops used to find him, they say. On her phone, they saw a picture of him. Then they found blood and a roll of duct tape in his car as proof.
The seven-count accusation against Iona said she was guilty of all of them. Among the charges were rape, aggravated assault, and carrying a knife while committing a crime.
Court records show that Iona will be able to get out of jail after 35 years of prison time, five years of parole, and reporting as a sex offender as part of a plea deal.
He also can’t talk to or have pictures of children younger than 18 years old because of the rules of the deal.
Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “This should be a warning to our young people to be careful.” “As this case demonstrates, not everyone you meet on social media has your best interest at heart.”
With music and games videos on his social media accounts, Iona tried to get people to watch them online, but only a few hundred people followed him.
The victim allegedly had to have several surgeries and physical therapy to get her walking back.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has warned that people are increasingly going after children online.
The group’s vice president, Staca Shehan, told FOX 5 that attackers are picking up their child victims in person more often after meeting them on apps.
“Kids are being drawn in,” she said.
She said that more often than not, girls are the ones who get hurt.