Police say the 38-year-old met the 13-year-old online before a meeting in Holtsville led to an alleged assault in Medford.
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A West Islip man was charged with raping a 13-year-old girl after police said he met her through social media, picked her up at a gas station in Holtsville and drove her to a secluded area in Medford earlier this week.
Michael Liontonia, 38, was arrested Wednesday and faced charges that include first-degree rape, second-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child. The case drew quick attention across Suffolk County because investigators said the girl told a middle school guidance counselor what happened, setting off the police response. Authorities say the allegations trace back to an online connection and a phone call, while Liontonia’s lawyer says his client denies that any sexual contact happened.
Police said the case began to unfold over three days in late March. Investigators said Liontonia and the girl did not know each other before they connected on social media, where they exchanged messages before moving to a phone call. According to police, the girl reported that Liontonia contacted her Monday night and arranged to meet her at a gas station on Express Drive South in Holtsville. Suffolk County Police Chief of Detectives Sean Beran said the two “connected back and forth” online before the call that led to the meeting. Surveillance video later obtained by local television news showed a blue pickup truck pulling up and a girl getting inside. Police said Liontonia then drove the girl from Holtsville to a secluded area in Medford, where the alleged assault took place inside the vehicle, before returning her to the gas station.
The matter came to police attention the next day, when officers responded to a call from a middle school after the student told a guidance counselor she had been sexually assaulted. Investigators said that report led Sixth Squad detectives to identify Liontonia and arrest him at about 5 p.m. Wednesday outside or in front of his home on Milligan Lane in West Islip. He was 38 at the time of his arrest. Officials said he was taken to the Sixth Precinct and held overnight before a scheduled arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip on Thursday. In court, prosecutors said Liontonia told the girl to get into the back of his truck and, when she said no, he raped her. Defense attorney Michael Brown disputed the accusation and said, “My client is adamant that there was no sexual activity whatsoever.” Court records beyond the initial arraignment details were not immediately included in the public reports available Thursday night, and authorities had not publicly described any forensic evidence.
The allegations have unsettled residents in West Islip, Holtsville and nearby communities because the reported sequence was both ordinary and sudden: an online conversation, a phone call, a pickup at a busy roadside business and then a drive to a quieter area. Police have said the victim was 13, making the age difference central to the charges filed in the case. Under New York law, rape charges can vary based on age, lack of consent and the circumstances described by investigators, and prosecutors in Suffolk County moved quickly to present the case in court within a day of the arrest. Public reporting on Thursday did not identify the exact social media platform in every account, though one local outlet reported investigators said the contact began on Snapchat. Other reports described the platform more generally as social media. That gap matters because it remains one of several details that were not fully spelled out by police in the first public statements.
Some parts of the case are clear from the initial police timeline, while others remain unresolved. Officials have publicly identified the alleged meeting point as a gas station at 5556 Express Drive South in Holtsville and said the alleged assault happened in Medford, but they have not released the precise Medford location. Police also have not publicly detailed how long the two were in contact before the Monday meeting, whether investigators recovered messages or call records, or whether additional surveillance footage exists beyond the video already reported. Authorities have said only that detectives conducted an investigation after the girl spoke to school staff and that Liontonia was then charged. Beran said police believe the pair met online and later connected by phone. That sequence has become a key part of the case because it explains how investigators believe a man from West Islip came into contact with a 13-year-old girl he did not know before the alleged encounter.
The public response has mixed shock, fear and a demand for more information. Neighbors interviewed after the arrest said they were stunned to learn that detectives had taken a man into custody in a quiet residential area where he lived with his family. One neighbor, Ashleigh Tanzman, said she could not believe the allegations were tied to her neighborhood. Reports also said Liontonia is married and has twin 3-year-old daughters, details raised in court coverage and interviews as residents tried to understand the arrest. Police set bail at $100,000 cash or $200,000 bond, according to local reports from Thursday’s court proceedings. Investigators also took the unusual but not rare step of asking the public whether anyone else believes they may have been victimized by Liontonia to contact Sixth Squad detectives. That request suggested detectives were still working to determine whether the accusation involved a single encounter or whether other complaints could surface as the investigation continues.
As of late Thursday, Liontonia remained charged and publicly accused, but the case was still in its early court stage, with many of the most important questions left for prosecutors, defense lawyers and detectives to test in the weeks ahead. The next milestone is the continuing court process in Suffolk County as investigators review records, interviews and any additional evidence tied to the alleged meeting on March 23 and the school report made on March 24.
Author note: Last updated March 27, 2026.