A man has been busted living in an attic above the bedroom of a 14-year-old girl, allegedly only coming down at night to visit the teen.
Police were forced to physically remove Matthew Casto, 18, from the home in Mt Juliet in the US state of Tennessee after he refused to leave, news.com.au reports.
Investigators say Casto had been living in the attic "for some time". He allegedly accessed the hidden room via a hatch inside the girl's wardrobe and would visit her at night after she locked her bedroom door.
The teen's mother raised the alarm after she arrived home on June 2 to find a "creepy" man standing at the top of the staircase.
Police will allege Casto immediately bolted to the daughter's bedroom and up into the attic, refusing to come out despite the mother's screams for him to leave her property.