Dog, girl left duct taped after abduction
Duluth, MN (US)Incident Date: Monday, Aug 2, 2010
County: Saint Louis
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Todd Richard Franik
A Duluth man who abducted a 13-year-old girl, stuffed her into his trunk, sexually assaulted her and left her duct-taped to a tree pleaded guilty in federal court Friday.
Todd Richard Franik, 41, faces life in prison after admitting to interstate transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank will sentence him at a later date.
Franik was charged just days after he abducted the girl and took her from Minnesota to a wooded area near Superior, Wis. In court Friday, he admitted that at around 3 p.m. on Aug. 2, he approached the girl as she was walking her dog past his parked car. He asked her for directions to the zoo, then grabbed her and the dog and put them in the trunk.
According to investigators, he then drove the car around, crossing into Wisconsin and back into Minnesota before stopping in a wooded area. He removed both the girl and the dog from the trunk and sexually assaulted the girl.
Afterward, he used duct tape to tape her to a fallen tree, allegedly stuffing a piece of cloth from his shirt into her mouth before covering her mouth with more tape. Police said he taped the dog's mouth shut, too.
After Franik left, police say, the girl chewed and twisted her way free. She made her way to a business in Superior, where police were called.
Police spotted a car fitting the description of Franik's and traced the license plate. A search of his home revealed shoes with tread patterns that matched shoe prints in the woods where the girl was bound, police said.
Franik was arrested without incident.
According to federal court records, Franik was sentenced in 1993 to 235 months in prison after being convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. In March of this year he tested positive for methamphetamine and was cited for a violation of his federal probation. References |
