Find a hit man on Facebook?

Many people use Facebook, the popular social-networking site, to find a job or a significant other. A Chester County teen is accused of using it to locate a hit man.

Solicitation to commit murder is one of the charges facing Corey C. Adams, 19, of West Chester, who was held for trial Tuesday in district court. The other charges include rape and kidnapping.

West Chester Police Det. Stan Billie testified that he received a call on July 1 from a 20-year-old woman who had accused Adams of raping her the night before. She had seen a posting on Adams' Facebook page offering $500 for "a girls head" and feared for her safety, Billie testified.

The detective testified that he went to Adams' home and that Adams agreed to meet with him at the police station. Less than 10 minutes later, Adams posted a second Facebook message that "he needed this girl knocked off right now," Billie testified.

Billie said he responded to the posting and arranged to have another officer play the role of assassin and meet with Adams. That rendezvous did not occur, Billie testified, because Adams wanted to meet with the alleged victim first, an encounter that police tape-recorded.

During a subsequent interview, Billie confronted Adams about the Facebook entry, and Adams gave differing explanations, first suggesting the message was directed at his sister, the detective testified. Finally, Adams admitted being upset about the rape allegation, Billie said.

Defense attorney Joseph Malley argued that the alleged victim was never identified on Facebook by name and could have been someone else, but Chester County First Assistant District Attorney Patrick Carmody countered that the timing suggested otherwise.

The alleged victim, whose name is being withheld by The Inquirer because of the nature of the charges, testified that she left a party on South High Street in West Chester on June 29 after consuming three drinks and feeling intoxicated and nauseous.

She testified that she got into her car so she could throw up in private. She said Adams, described as a friend of an acquaintance who had also attended the party, jumped into the car and drove it to a parking lot in front of his home. He used a knife to rip her jeans and raped her, despite her pleas for him to stop, she said.

Under cross-examination, she testified she was "in and out of consciousness" but clearly recalled the attack. She said she asked Adams "what happened" during the conversation recorded by police "to see what he would have to say."

After the hearing, Malley questioned her account.

"It all comes down to credibility," Malley said. "DNA testing will be done, and I believe that this is a case where neither party recalls what happened."

Carmody disagreed.

He said the alleged victim was terrified by the Facebook posting, which "obviously corroborates our evidence."

Adams is being held at Chester County Prison on $300,000 bail. Court records show that he was on probation for a 2009 simple assault conviction when the alleged rape occurred.