CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Walled Lake man is accused of enticing a 13-year-old Canton Township girl for sex after her parents blocked his phone due to previous encounters, officials said.
Then, when authorities searched the man’s home, they said they found a custom AR-15 that he had built, along with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.
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Man meets with teenage girl
On June 18, Canton Township police received a call from the parents of a 13-year-old girl. They told officials that their daughter had been arranging to be picked up by adult men, presumably to engage in sexual activity, according to the criminal complaint.
The parents said their daughter would arrange the encounters for when she was taking a walk around the neighborhood, court records show.
Officials said one incident involved Andrew Joseph Caschera, 43, of Walled Lake.
On June 7, the 13-year-old girl told her parents she was going for a walk around the neighborhood, but around 1 p.m., a neighbor saw her being dropped off by a man, later identified as Caschera, according to authorities.
The neighbor approached the black Jeep Commander, recorded the license plate and told Caschera that the girl was only 13 years old, officials said.
Two days later, the girl told her mother that she had had sex and that she wanted to take a pregnancy test, according to court records.
Phone records
The girl’s parents turned her phone over to police, who identified Caschera’s number in the contacts under the name “drew,” authorities said.
According to the girl’s phone, only one text message had been exchanged with Caschera, on June 24, which was after the phone had already been turned over to law enforcement. That text said, “Mornin” and “Hope ya had a good weekend,” officials said.
Police found a screenshot of another conversation between the girl and Caschera from June 10, they said. Officials said he sent pictures of his pets and asked, “How ya doin babe,” “Whatcha up to,” “We chillin today?” and “You able to go out on the lake with me at all?”
Authorities believe the girl had been deleting her conversations with Caschera to hide the relationship from her parents. The manner of the conversations found on the phone suggest there was regular communication between Caschera and the girl, according to officials.
Call logs were only visible to investigators from June 14 -- around the date the phone was turned over to authorities, they said. But for each day they could see, there was a phone call to or from Caschera, including conversations on June 14-18, according to court records.
The duration of the calls ranged from 8 to 41 minutes, officials said.
“The messages and call logs observed by law enforcement were a clear indication that Caschera was continuing to contact (the girl), even after being specifically told by her neighbor about her only being 13 years of age,” the criminal complaint reads.
13-year-old interviewed
An FBI interviewer spoke with the 13-year-old girl in August, and she said she met “Drew” in April 2021 on an online dating application, according to authorities.
She said she believed him to be 32 years old, officials said.
The girl said a few days after they began talking online, Caschera picked her up near her home. He took her to a nearby business in his Jeep and asked her to get into the back seat, where they engaged in unprotected intercourse, according to the criminal complaint.
The girl said before she met with Caschera, she told him she was 16 years old, according to officials.
But even after the neighbor informed Caschera that the girl was 13 years old, he met up with her one week later, court records show. During that meeting, they kissed but did not engage in further sexual activity, authorities said.
At some point during their conversations, the girl sent an inappropriate picture to Caschera, and he sent one back, officials said.
Text message conversation
On Jan. 30, the girl’s parents called police because Caschera contacted their daughter in an effort to meet again, using the same dating application, the criminal complaint says.
Her parents saw screenshots of the conversation between their daughter and “Drew,” and made them available to police. Here are some excerpts listed in the criminal complaint (the girl’s texts are labeled “MV1,” or “minor victim 1″ in the thread:
Drew: Hey there!
Drew: How ya been?
MV1: omg hi
Drew: Hi (smiley emoji)
MV1: I missed u
Drew: Ive missed you too ……..
MV1: no way this is drew
Drew: Why wouldn’t it be drew
MV1: i-idk
MV1: fine whats my real name
Drew: Its ok u can tell me
Drew: (sends MV1′s first name) …….
MV1: where is the first place we had sex …….
Drew: Did someone say something happened to me?
MV1: no
MV1: i told the cops everything im so sorry i just didn’t wanna lie
Drew: What? When was this?
MV1: I had kids talk in august
Drew: What did they say?
MV1: that they didn’t have any evidence against u
Drew: Just the mention of cops makes me afraid to even talk to ya which sux cause I like talking to ya
MV1: ik ……
Drew: I thought u hated me or somethin, the way ya disappeared on me
MV1: no my dad blocked u
Drew: Oooh ok
Drew: Well im glad I found ya again (smiley emoji)
MV1: me too
Drew: Would u ever wanna hang out again?
MV1: idk
Drew: Ok
Drew: Wish u could hang out at night
MV1: I can
Drew: Really?
MV1: if I sneak …….
Drew: Well, if ya ever wanna, just lemme know
MV1: okkk
Drew: I haven’t been able to meet anyone who wants to chill and smoke since this summer. No one wants to meet. I dunno why …….
Drew: Ill leave ya alone now. Was good talkin to ya again! I missed ya (kissing face emoji) Hmu sometime if ya want
The complaint notes that during this conversation, the girl mentioned the previous rape and told Caschera about her forensic interview. He also told her to “hit him up” if she wanted to meet again.
By this time, the girl was 14 years old, officials said. Caschera used the dating app to try to meet up with her and engage in sexual activity, according to authorities.
“Caschera’s comments concerning his fear of law enforcement further demonstrate his knowledge of the illicit nature of their interactions,” the criminal complaint says.
Caschera’s background
Caschera is a registered sex offender in the state of Michigan because of a 2004 conviction on three third-degree criminal sexual conduct charges that stemmed from the rape of a 14-year-old girl, officials said.
Caschera met that victim online and began talking to her via cellphone, authorities said. He arranged to pick her up in his car and forced her to engage in oral sex while he was driving, according to the criminal complaint. He raped her in the back seat of the vehicle, court records show.
Search warrant in Walled Lake
On Wednesday (March 2), officials executed a search warrant at Caschera’s home on Leon Road in Walled Lake, they said.
During the search, authorities found an AR-15-style rifle leaned against a wall, a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol with a loaded magazine under the pillow in Caschera’s bedroom, and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition of varying types, according to court records.
Both of the firearms were “ghost guns” without any serial numbers or manufacturer information, officials said. Caschera built the guns using separately purchased parts, according to authorities.
When building a ghost gun, the part of the weapon that’s usually restricted to be sold by licensed firearm dealers is shipped in an 80% state of manufacture, experts said. That portion bears the serial number.
Caschera was able to assemble the firearm using parts legally available for purchase to circumvent the need to purchase from a licensed dealer, according to the criminal complaint.
Officials said the AR-15-style rifle was functioning as a fully automatic machine gun.
There were two separate living spaces in the residence -- one upstairs and one downstairs, officials said. Caschera claimed the guns belonged to his girlfriend, who lived at the home, according to court records.
When his girlfriend arrived at the home, she also said the firearms belonged to her, but authorities didn’t believe that, they said. The guns and ammo were found in Caschera’s room and had been shipped in his name, according to police.
Some of the gun boxes contained hand-written notes thanking Caschera for his purchase, the criminal complaint says.
Caschera interview regarding 13-year-old
When police asked Caschera about the 13-year-old girl, he admitted to picking her up in June and said a neighbor had confronted him when he dropped her off, according to authorities.
Caschera said he and the girl didn’t have any type of sexual contact, but that he believed she was 19 years old when they met, police said.
Officials asked Caschera why he continued to contact the girl for weeks after he learned about her age, and he said it was due to concerns about her mental health because she appeared to be dealing with some issues, court records show.
He told police he met with her at least one additional time, but it was only to drive her around the neighborhood to post fliers about a job, according to the complaint.
Caschera admitted to reaching out to the girl about a month prior on the dating application, authorities said.
Charges
Officials said they believe there’s evidence that Caschera knew the age of the girl when he tried to set up an additional sexual encounter.
“Based on my training and experience in these types of investigations, it is reasonable to believe Caschera had arranged a sexual encounter with an individual he thought to be under the age of 18 and was attempting to do so again,” the criminal complaint reads.
Caschera was a convicted felon possessing two firearms and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, according to authorities.
The complaint concludes that probable cause exists to charge Caschera with online enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, felon in possession of a firearm and penalties for registered sex offenders.
