BATON ROUGE - A missing 13-year-old girl from Baker was found safe but reportedly abused in a basement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The arrests of three men in three different states followed. Officials say that this case is a clear example of online grooming and trafficking.

Chris Masters, a Supervisory Special Agent with the Louisiana Attorney General's Cyber Crimes Unit, stressed the critical need for law enforcement.

"Every juvenile case, every juvenile runaway, we need to look at it through that lens and see if this is a human trafficking case instead of just a normal runaway," Masters said.

Investigators say 26-year-old Ki-Shawn Crumity told the victim he would "get her adopted by a trusted adult" before she left home. 

Masters explains how the abuse begins through online grooming, where predators feed victims information and build trust until the child feels comfortable leaving.

"They think that this is their boyfriend. 'We're gonna find you whatever you need. I'm gonna take care of you. I'm gonna get your clothes. I'm gonna get you whatever,' and a child that's looking for something, and even if a child is not looking for something, they think that's her boyfriend, and they're gonna go try and get with them. You know these children are vulnerable at 12, 13 years old," Masters said.

The teen's mom told WBRZ she did not allow the child to use social media or electronics unsupervised. The teen left behind a device when she ran away. Through that device, authorities found several social media accounts. Federal agents tracked the victim through her online activity. This led them to Pittsburgh.

"What our forensic lab is able to do is kind of trace where those things are hitting off of, plus in collaboration with our partners with the State Police and US Marshals, we're able to provide some information to them that we find in these electronic devices that they could use to track it in real time," he said.

So far, three arrests have been announced.

Alvin Hanson, 62, was arrested at a New Orleans homeless shelter on Oct. 27, reportedly admitted he was at the Greyhound Bus Station with the teen in Baton Rouge. Ronald Smith, 62, from Columbus, Georgia, is facing a kidnapping charge. Crumity, whom the teen allegedly met on Snapchat, is facing additional charges connected to sex crimes. 

Masters says from a parent's point of view, the situation is terrifying. 

"Horrifying. I've got children. I've got daughters, and I'm very hard on them because I don't want this to happen to them. We see this all the time, and this is why we've come together as law enforcement, and have to in order to prevent this from happening to any child," Masters said.

We're told more arrests are expected in this case. As for the victim, they are receiving counseling and medical care and will eventually be returned to Louisiana.