Teen girl's adult boyfriend found living in family attic

An 18-year-old man has been arrested after he was discovered living in the attic of his 14-year-old girlfriend's family home.

Matthew Castro, of Tennessee, US, was only discovered on June 2 when his girlfriend's mother arrived home unexpectedly and spotted him standing at the top of the home's staircase.

She told Castro to leave the house, at which point he allegedly ran to his girlfriend's bedroom and disappeared, prompting the woman to call the police.

When officers arrived and searched the home they discovered the 18-year-old hiding in the attic crawl space, laying on the ceiling rafters.

Police had to remove him by force and later discovered he had been living in the home's attic for some time.

Castro had previously been told to stay away from the young girl he was dating, having previously trespassed in the home on May 30.

It is believed that he had taken up residence in the family attic, which opened down into the 14-year-old girl's bedroom closet, to secretly visit her.

Officers stated that he would come down from the crawlspace at night when the young girl was in her bedroom with the door locked.

Upon his arrest Castro was charged with aggravated criminal trespass and warned not to contact the  girl.

The 14-year-old was also known to local police from a previous "unruly runaway investigation" according to police reports.