HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A central Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 25 to 50 years in state prison after being convicted of kidnapping a teenage runaway.
PennLive.com (https://bit.ly/Qxkr6W ) reports that jurors deliberated for about 2½ hours Tuesday before convicting 50-year-old Walter Sawyer of Harrisburg of kidnapping, unlawful contact with a minor and providing false identification to police.
Court records indicate that he was acquitted of unlawful restraint and false imprisonment as well as misdemeanor attempted indecent assault.
The 17-year-old girl testified tearfully that Sawyer offered to buy her food, then drove her under a bridge and demanded sex before an officer on patrol interceded. Prosecutors said Sawyer had fled from a halfway house.
Sawyer’s attorney argued that her client was made a scapegoat because the girl didn’t want to get into trouble.
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Information from: The Patriot-News, https://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews
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