Man sentenced to 20 years for grooming, taking WA girl to Michigan home
MI sex offender sentenced to 20 years for taking WA girl
Keith Freerksen, 31, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for grooming a girl online, taking her from her Mount Vernon home and bringing her to his Michigan home.
SEATTLE - A man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for grooming a 14-year-old girl online, taking her from her Mount Vernon home and bringing her back to his Michigan home.
Keith Freerksen, 31, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Mom of missing Washington teen says her daughter's 'trying to sort this all out' after being rescued in MI
The mother of a 14-year-old girl who disappeared from Mount Vernon, Washington is speaking out after she was found alive in Michigan.
Timeline:
Back in January 2024, law enforcement discovered that a 14-year-old girl was being transported via multiple Uber rides, purchased by an unknown person.
Investigators eventually identified Freerksen, a registered sex offender in Michigan, as a potential suspect.
Using license plate readers, law enforcement traced Freerksen's movements across the northern tier of the U.S., capturing his return trip through Idaho and Illinois in the days after the teen went missing.
Through a search warrant from the FBI, the teen was recovered and Freerksen was arrested. He was charged with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor and enticement of a minor.
"What happened in this case is every parent’s nightmare – a predator comes into the home via social media and computer screens and manipulates your child to run away," said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. "This defendant secreted a child away, leaving a distraught family searching desperately for their loved one. When the victim should have been involved in normal teenage activities, the teen was instead manipulated and ensnared by the defendant."
The victim’s parents thanked law enforcement for finding and rescuing their child, saying, "I never imagined a predator would travel across the country to steal (my child)."
The 20-year sentence will run concurrent to a 15-to-70 year state sentence in Michigan. Freerksen will also have to register as a sex offender again.
The Source: Information in this story is from the U.S. District Attorney's Office and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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