Broad daylight kidnapping of 10-year-old girl caught on video, arrest made

One week after a child being kidnapped in broad daylight was caught on surveillance video, a man from East Chicago, Indiana, was arrested and charged in that bold and violent kidnapping and sexual assault.  Bryan Protho, 38, was taken into custody on December 27, “after the victim identified him in a photo lineup and charged with one count of kidnapping,” according to the Chicago Patch. The kidnapping went down on December 20 around 3:30 p.m.

In the accompanying video released by the FBI (see below), viewers can see the blurred-out image of a young girl walking down the sidewalk in the neighborhood at 153rd Street and Burnham Avenue in Calumet City.  Viewers can also see the alleged kidnapper getting out of his red Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle and walk toward the sidewalk to cut off the young girl as she approached his location, according to MSN.

Protho forced the girl into his red Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle and drove away, according to the indictment. He then parked the vehicle in an alley and allegedly assaulted the child.

The victim was able to escape and flag down a passing vehicle, and law enforcement was contacted.  ~ per MSN

The 10-year-old kidnapping victim told police she was just walking home from school when she was grabbed and forced into the SUV.  She told investigators that as the man drove away with her in the vehicle, that he repeatedly struck her about her face.  She said he also covered her mouth when she tried screaming for help.

The man then parked in an alley and demanded the child take off her pants. She refused.

The man asked her “if she wanted to die” and threatened to shoot her.

He then forced her to remove her pants and assaulted her for five minutes. ~ per the Chicago Patch

It was only after being assaulted that the young girl managed to get free from her kidnapper and flag down a passing car. Protho faces a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life, according to NBC News in Chicago. He is currently being detained at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.

https://youtu.be/64Tkzh4_pNA

~ Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter