A young girl went missing while camping with her family in Moreau State Park on September 30, 2023.
A man accused of kidnapping a 9-year-old girl on a family camping trip last year faces 47 years to life in prison after pleading guilty.
Craig Nelson Ross Jr. pleaded guilty to first-degree kidnapping and predatory sexual assault of a child during a court appearance Wednesday, according to WRGB.
A young girl was abducted while riding her bike in Moreau Lake State Park on September 30, 2023. Less than two days later, she was found in a locker inside a camper parked at Ross Jr.’s mother’s home.
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Investigators discovered their location after they positively identified fingerprints on a ransom note allegedly left in the mailbox of the young girl’s family. His fingerprints were linked to a 1999 DWI case in Saratoga, NY
The Times Union reported that Ross Jr. “was quiet and expressionless while admitting the charges”. According to the media, he faces 25 years to life for first-degree kidnapping and 22 years to life for predatory sexual assault of a child (a possible sentence of 47 years in prison).
His criminal trial would have started on April 8 if he had rejected the plea deal. Had the case gone to trial, the 9-year-old girl could also have been forced to testify. Sentencing is scheduled for April 17, and he remains in the Saratoga County Jail without bond.
Craig N. Ross Jr.
Saratoga County Jail
The high school football coach walked into the police station and allegedly confessed to strangling the girl
According to WTEN, his guilty plea followed a Feb. 1 court appearance in which Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Buckley said they have “over 2,000 photographs, hundreds of body camera and surveillance videos, emails, radio transmissions and witnesses ” for use against him.
After the young girl was returned to her family, they shared a statement with PEOPLE thanking “the FBI, the New York State Police, all agencies that were mobilized, all the families, friends, community, neighbors and hundreds of volunteers.”
“We are thrilled that he is home and understand that the outcome is not what every family gets,” the statement said.
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Aside from his 1999 DWI case that resulted in a fine and a 90-day driver’s license suspension, Ross Jr. was also arrested in April 2017 following a physical domestic dispute. A New York State Police spokesperson previously told PEOPLE that he “allegedly applied pressure to the victim’s throat during the altercation.”
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Source: HIS Education