Birmingham man arrested after being found with 12-year-old runaway

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - A Birmingham man has been arrested and charged after he was found with a 12-year-old female runaway, according to the Hoover Police Department.

Hoover police say they received a report of a 12-year-old female juvenile runaway on September 15 and began an investigation.

During the investigation, authorities pinpointed a possible location for the child after receiving information from a family member that indicated she may have been with an adult male she met online.

The following day, officers with the Birmingham Police Department located the child at a residence in the 8000 block of 4th Avenue South and contacted Hoover detectives.

Hoover investigators determined the man had engaged in sexual acts with the child. Police say 37-year-old Herbert James Cox of Birmingham was taken into custody and transported to the Hoover City Jail.

Cox is charged with Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act, Rape 2nd degree, Sodomy 2nd degree, and Sale, Furnishing, etc. of Controlled Substances by Persons Over Age 18 to Persons Under Age 18.

Cox was transferred to the Jefferson County Jail in Bessemer on September 18 where he remains held without bond.

The investigation is ongoing.

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