A woman from South Carolina allegedly drove over a thousand miles to Minnesota to kidnap a young girl, then drove her back home, where she sexually assaulted her.

FBI agents arrested Katrina Marie Aliff, 23, on Sept. 8 after they found the girl, who is under age 12, in Aliff's Greenville, S.C., apartment. Authorities charged Aliff with aggravated sexual abuse of a child and transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to a criminal complaint filed last month in U.S. District Court in Greenville.

Aliff met the child through the internet application Amino in March and continued to converse on the app and through text messaging and other internet apps. By spring, the two had expressed feelings for each other and "began a more intimate relationship," the complaint read.

The girl's father discovered the text messages and destroyed the girl's phone. But the conversations continued as the girl used a tablet with Wi-Fi connections to talk with Aliff, the complaint said.

In the days after the father destroyed the girl's phone, Aliff made a plan with the girl to drive to South St. Paul, pick her up and drive her to South Carolina.

Aliff had planned to meet the girl at a gas station near her home on the morning of Sept. 7. She found the girl around 2 a.m. walking down a street near the gas station with her belongings.

Aliff put the girl and her belongings in her Honda CRV and took off for South Carolina.

Upon arrival in Greenville sometime between 9 and 10 a.m. on Sept. 8, Aliff and the girl went into Aliff's apartment, drank a small amount of beer and began engaging in sexual activity as they took a bath, the complaint said.

The two were found by authorities on Sept. 9 in Aliff's apartment, according to the complaint.

A judge ordered Aliff to undergo mental evaluation. Online jail records say she's being held at a New York corrections center.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768