Illegal alien arrested after foiled abduction of girl at Utah school
The mother of a 13-year-old Utah girl discovered troubling messages exchanged between a man and her daughter on social media. The concerned parent notified police — and just in the nick of time, too.
Miguel Angel Vega Sedano, a 21-year-old illegal alien, was arrested Friday and charged with a first-degree felony count of child kidnapping and two third-degree felony counts of possession of forgery writing/device.
The girl's mother alerted Granite School District Police last week to indications on Instagram that Sedano allegedly planned to abduct the child from her West Valley City school, reported KTVX-TV.
According to a statement of probable cause, police ultimately found Sedano waiting for the girl in a vehicle on school property. Officers reportedly found a fraudulent Social Security card and a false permanent residency card on his person.
The Granite School District said in a statement obtained by KTVX that on Friday afternoon, "Granite District Police detained the suspect as he entered the campus after school had been out for about 30 minutes. West Valley City Police responded and took the man into custody."
"We are grateful the student disclosed the conversation to their parents and the student was not harmed," the district added. "This is an unfortunate, but very real, reminder of the dangers of social media. Almost 60% of teenage girls say they've been contacted by a stranger on social media platforms in ways that make them feel uncomfortable."
Following his arrest, Sedano allegedly admitted to police that he intentionally communicated with the 13-year-old girl and had traveled to the school to "pick the girl up and take her home."
KSL-TV indicated that Sedano indicated he neither knew the girl's parents nor had their permission to pick her up.
The would-be abductee is apparently not the only minor the illegal alien has targeted. Sedano also reportedly told authorities he had been communicating with another 13-year-old girl whom he has met in person three times.
In addition to confirming his intention to abduct the minor, Sedano reportedly admitted to obtaining his false documents from a family member in Arizona.
Sedano was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on Friday. Jail records appear to indicate that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed a detainer request over the weekend against the illegal alien.
In fiscal year 2023, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations made 170,590 administrative arrests. 43% of those arrested had previous criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. There were nearly 300,000 charges and convictions spread among those 73,822 illegal aliens picked up who had criminal histories, including 1,713 for homicide; 1,655 for kidnapping; 4,390 for rape; 33,209 for assault; 3,097 for robbery; and 6,964 for burglary.
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