MUNCIE, Ind. – Police arrested a 22-year-old Muncie man accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Officers in Middletown, Ohio, pulled Daniel Serf over on May 30 and found him in the car with a 13-year-old juvenile. The juvenile initially lied about her identity before investigators discovered her name and age, according to court documents.

The girl told family members she had “consensual” intercourse with Serf over Memorial Day weekend. She’d stayed with him at his Muncie home for about a week and admitted she’d lied to her family about her whereabouts.

During an interview on June 20, the girl told investigators she and Serf interacted via Snapchat. He’d asked her how old she was; she said she told Serf she was 13 and that “he was OK with her being 13,” according to court documents. They also talked about sex.

Police arrested Serf in Delaware County on June 28. According to court documents, he claimed he thought the girl was 16 years old and didn’t know her true age until police pulled them over in Ohio.

He initially claimed he’d driven to Ohio to buy her a $5 box of crackers because she was hungry.

Serf eventually told police he’d communicated with the juvenile for about a month before picking her up. He’d sent her money and bought her an iPhone, according to court documents. He later said they’d had sex twice.

An investigator told Serf his actions were “indicative of an adult grooming a child,” but Serf countered that “it didn’t seem that way to him.”

Police booked Serf on two counts of child molesting.