DOVER, Del. (AP) - A Delaware man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl before throwing her into a pond has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other crimes.
Daniel Santucci, 24, of Elsmere entered the plea Friday during a final case review held in advance of a trial that was scheduled to begin next week.
Santucci pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping, and second-degree rape. He faces a minimum mandatory prison term of 27 years at his sentencing, which is scheduled for Dec. 21.
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“The victim’s family supports this resolution as it enables justice to be served and protects the young victim from enduring a lengthy trial,” Carl Kanefsky, a spokesman for the Delaware Department of Justice, said in an email.
Authorities said the girl was playing outside in the Plum Rum community in Pike Creek, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Wilmington, in April 2017 when a man lured her into a car and drove off.
Two hours later, a motorist spotted the girl, wearing little clothing, at a park about 8 miles (13 kilometers) away, where police say she had been thrown into a large pond.
Five days later, New Castle County police received a call from police in Elsmere, informing them that Santucci could be a potential person of interest. That same day, according to police, Santucci apparently tried to stage his own disappearance, abandoning his car in the middle of an area road with the engine running and the driver’s door open.
Investigators subsequently determined that Santucci had fled Delaware on a Greyhound bus for Florida. He was arrested in Tampa two weeks after the kidnapping on a violation of probation charge stemming from 2012 convictions in Delaware for burglary, theft and conspiracy.
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