California Man Found Guilty of Raping Child in Indiana
LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ind. — A California man has been found guilty of traveling to Indiana and raping a 12-year-old he met online.
According to court records, Bernardo Tapia, a registered sex offender from Santa Clara, California, has been convicted of multiple child sex crimes, including two felony counts each of rape, child molesting, child sexual trafficking, and strangulation. He’s also charged with one count of obstruction of justice, a Level 6 felony.
In September 2024, Tapia was arrested by Indiana State Police after being identified as a suspect in a child molestation case in Lawrence County. The case involved a missing 12-year-old girl from Greene County, whose family had told police they believed their child had met an older man online and planned to meet him in person.
Detectives said Tapia picked up the 12-year-old at her home in Greene County and took her to a motel in the Lawrence County town of Bedford. Tapia was eventually arrested in northern Indiana.
Tapia is facing charges in Greene County of child solicitation, dissemination of matter harmful to minors, and inappropriate communication with a child. There are also four counts of possession of child pornography.
Tapia is scheduled to appear in Greene Circuit Court for a pretrial conference on Aug. 26. He’s scheduled to be sentenced the following day.
