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Virginia Man Sentenced For Attempted Kidnapping of Littleton Girl

WOBURN- June 30, 2010 — A Virginia man has been sentenced after he was found guilty on kidnapping charges following his travels from Virginia to meet a pre-teen girl in Littleton he had met over the Internet in a chat room, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone informed the public today. 

            Daniel O’Brien, 32, of Virginia, was found guilty by a Middlesex Superior Court jury on charges of attempted kidnapping and child enticement on June 7, 2010. Middlesex Superior Court Judge Bruce Henry sentenced the defendant to two and one half years in jail followed by five years probation with the conditions that the defendants stays away and has no direct or indirect contact with the victim and her family; no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16; no employment involving contact with children under the age of 16; he must complete all mental health and sex offender evaluations; he must have no use of the internet or social networking sites, unless approved by probation for employment purposes only; comply with GPS monitoring device; and the defendant must register as a sex offender.

            According to authorities, on Friday, November 20, 2009, Littleton Police were contacted by a Littleton resident who was concerned about Internet communications his girlfriend’s daughter was having with a Virginia man over the Internet.  The resident stated that his girlfriend’s daughter, the victim, who was 12-years-old at the time, was acting unusual that morning before school and that her backpack was filled with extra clothes and money.  After dropping her off at school, he and the victim’s mother made the decision to go through their computer where they located e-mail exchanges between the victim and the defendant, who claimed that he was 25 years old.  The conversations revealed that the defendant offered to help the victim runaway from her home.  The conversations also revealed that the defendant planned to travel by bus from Virginia to Boston.  He stated to the victim that he would then take a train from Boston to Littleton to meet her.  He then planned on taking the victim back to Virginia with him. 

            This information was relayed to Littleton PD who contacted the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office to assist in the investigation.  After a subpoena was granted, authorities were able to locate and identify the account user as the defendant, as well as get a description of his physical appearance and the approximate time the bus he was traveling on would arrive in Boston.

            At approximately 2:30 p.m. that afternoon, Littleton police and two FBI agents were conducting surveillance of the Littleton Train Station in anticipation of the defendant’s arrival and were able to identify the defendant and place him in custody.

            Once in custody, the defendant admitted that he planned on meeting the victim and returning to Virginia with her.  He also admitted that he knew her age and that he intended to sexually assault the victim.

            O’Brien was arraigned on November 23, 2009 in Ayer District Court on charges of attempted kidnapping and child endangerment.  He was indicted by a Middlesex Superior Court Grand Jury on December 23, 2009 on charges of attempted kidnapping, child enticement, and reckless endangerment of a child. He was arraigned in Woburn Superior Court on January 11 where he was held on $50,000 cash bail with the conditions that he has no contact with the victim or the victim’s family, no contact with any child under the age of 18, do not use the internet, turn in his passport, refrain from any employment where he could have contact with children under the age of 18 and if the defendant made bail, he had to sign a waiver of rendition.

            The Assistant District Attorney assigned to this case is Patrick Fitzgerald.  The Victim Witness Advocate is Joanne Szeto.  This case was investigated by Littleton Police, the FBI, and members of the Middlesex District Attorney’s Child Abuse Unit, Cyber Protection Unit, and PACT Unit.

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Last Update for this page:  06/30/2010 02:23:18 PM

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