A convicted rapist and his girlfriend -- who met a 15-year-old girl on line through Facebook -- has been arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, New York State police say.

Joshua E. Kearsley, 25, of Alder Meadow Road, was charged with a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child in connection with the disappearance of a 15-year-old runaway from Whitehall.

Police say Kearsley and his girlfriend Christy Wodard, 20, also charged with the same offense, allegedly met the girl on Facebook and had exchanged several messages with her over several weeks, police say.

On Monday, June 6, Chief Matthew Dickinson of the Whitehall Police Department requested the assistance of State Police with a finding the 15-year-old. Investigators learned the girl left her house in Whitehall and walked to Fort Ann where she was picked up by Kearsley and Woodard. Police were able to trace her to Schroon Lake in part through phone records. She was returned to her parents on Tuesday.

PostStar.com reports that Kearsley served 3 years in state prison “in connection with a 2007 conviction for second-degree rape, a conviction that related to his having sex with a 14-year-old girl in Thurman who police said was developmentally disabled”.

Kearsley and Wodard are free on bond and are scheduled to appear in Whitehall Court next week.