PHILLIPS – A Phillips man was arrested Thursday after Franklin County officials received a call about a runaway teen from Massachusetts earlier this month.

James Engel, 29, was charged with criminal restraint after he admitted to permitting a 16-year-old girl to stay with him at his 86 Main St. home despite knowing she had run away from her foster home in Barre, Mass., Franklin County Detective David St. Laurent said Monday.

The juvenile, unhappy in her foster situation, knew Engel from Massachusetts and called him earlier in the month asking to come stay with him, police said.

Engel was released on $2,000 cash bail and is scheduled to appear in court later this month. The girl is being held at a facility in Maine until extradition papers from Massachusetts are in order.

“He was just trying to help a young lady,” St. Laurent said of Engel, who was not charged with any other crimes. “She didn’t like foster care and he was an option,” he added.