Man lures teen from chat room and rapes her in church parking lot, MO cops say
A missing 14-year-old girl was found approximately 200 miles away from her home with a 20-year-old man accused of raping her after the two met in an online chat room, Missouri deputies said
The two started to communicate on an application called Y99 on April 6, according to a probable cause statement. The platform is designed for people to “talk to strangers” through chat and video call, according to a description on Google Play.
The 20-year-old, identified as Joseph Kunaschk of Springfield, texted the teen and convinced her to sneak out of her Lincoln County home for sex acts, according to the probable cause statement filed April 7 by the sheriff’s office.
The man’s attorney information was not listed.
“I have never been with someone as young as you,” Kunaschk said in a text message, according to deputies.
The man plotted to pick the girl up from her home in the early hours of April 7, deputies said. A witness in the home said he saw the teen in the kitchen late at night on April 6 and also noticed a truck parked outside. When he went outside, deputies said, the vehicle sped off.
The witness said they then went to sleep. According to the probable cause statement, the girl left her home and went with Kunaschk to a church parking lot in the county, and he raped her.
Kunaschk told officers he got “spooked” in the church lot and took the girl to his apartment in Springfield, where he forced her into additional sex acts, deputies said.
While at his residence, the man got a call, deputies said. He told officers the call rattled him because he realized having sex acts “with a 14-year-old was wrong,” the probable cause statement said.
He then took the teen to a property in Dallas County, according to the probable cause statement. Deputies made contact with the missing girl, according to Lincoln County prosecutors.
Kunaschk received a call from deputies asking about the missing teen, and he admitted that she was with him, the probable cause statement said. He was arrested on the Dallas County property, and the girl was found, deputies said.
Kunaschk is charged with rape and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the criminal complaint. Prosecutors say he faces up to life in prison if convicted.
The prosecutor’s office requested a $500,000 bond.
Lincoln County is about 200-mile drive northeast from Dallas County.
This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Man lures teen from chat room and rapes her in church parking lot, MO cops say."
