SAUQUOIT - State police were crediting three young men with helping rescue a 7-year-old girl who troopers say was abducted and sexually assaulted by an ex-convict.
Louis Leddick Jr., 23, was being held Tuesday in the Oneida County Jail without bail on a parole violation warrant. Prosecutors are considering kidnapping and rape charges against Leddick, who was paroled from prison last month after serving three years for stealing a car.
“It could have turned much more tragic than this,” said state police Capt. Francis Coots.
Although they were too late to stop the abduction and the attack, Coots said the three young men likely saved the girl's life.
The girl was treated for her injuries and later released to her parents, police said.
The incident began late Friday evening when the child and her 5-year-old brother were staying with family friends in Sauquoit, a hamlet just south of Utica, police said. Leddick was visiting as well and was playing in the backyard with the children earlier Friday, but at some point they left the property, police said.
The family friends started looking for Leddick and the two children. About 7 p.m., the boy came out of the woods and said Leddick had told him to go, police said.
Meanwhile, Zachary Dean, Robert Hodge and Christopher Belfiore were hanging out and had decided to go for a walk on a wooded trail behind their homes. Along the way, they met a young girl and a man.
“He said his name was Lou and this was his daughter and he needed to get directions to get him out of the woods,” Dean, 21, of Sauquoit, told The Observer-Dispatch of Utica.
They told him the way, continued walking and returned to Dean's home, thinking there was nothing suspicious. But about a half-hour later, they learned the girl was missing. The trio raced back into the woods to look for the man they'd encountered.
“We went in expecting to find them lost,” said Hodge, 19, of Clayville.
Using flashlights to light their way, the three men called the girl's name, and soon she called back, crying for help, said Belfiore, 19, of Sauquoit.
They quickly found the girl, who was injured, naked and frightened. The man, who was not wearing his shirt, ran away. Belfiore chased the man but he escaped. His friends called 911.
Unable to catch the man, the three left the woods. Hodge carried the girl. By the time they emerged from the woods, police were on the scene and took over the search.
Police said Leddick was captured early Saturday morning after a four-hour manhunt.
“I really feel like we saved her life,” Hodge told the newspaper. “If we would have got to her any later, I believe she would have lost her life.”
Leddick was paroled June 24 from the Watertown Correctional Facility after serving three years of a 3-to-7-year sentence for grand larceny in Otsego County. Parole officials issued a warrant for him July 22. He had no previous sex offenses on his record, Coots said.
A county prosecutor did return calls from The Associated Press and it could not immediately be determined whether Leddick has a lawyer.
“It could have turned much more tragic than this,” said state police Capt. Francis Coots.
Although they were too late to stop the abduction and the attack, Coots said the three young men likely saved the girl's life.
The girl was treated for her injuries and later released to her parents, police said.
The incident began late Friday evening when the child and her 5-year-old brother were staying with family friends in Sauquoit, a hamlet just south of Utica, police said. Leddick was visiting as well and was playing in the backyard with the children earlier Friday, but at some point they left the property, police said.
The family friends started looking for Leddick and the two children. About 7 p.m., the boy came out of the woods and said Leddick had told him to go, police said.
Meanwhile, Zachary Dean, Robert Hodge and Christopher Belfiore were hanging out and had decided to go for a walk on a wooded trail behind their homes. Along the way, they met a young girl and a man.
“He said his name was Lou and this was his daughter and he needed to get directions to get him out of the woods,” Dean, 21, of Sauquoit, told The Observer-Dispatch of Utica.
They told him the way, continued walking and returned to Dean's home, thinking there was nothing suspicious. But about a half-hour later, they learned the girl was missing. The trio raced back into the woods to look for the man they'd encountered.
“We went in expecting to find them lost,” said Hodge, 19, of Clayville.
Using flashlights to light their way, the three men called the girl's name, and soon she called back, crying for help, said Belfiore, 19, of Sauquoit.
They quickly found the girl, who was injured, naked and frightened. The man, who was not wearing his shirt, ran away. Belfiore chased the man but he escaped. His friends called 911.
Unable to catch the man, the three left the woods. Hodge carried the girl. By the time they emerged from the woods, police were on the scene and took over the search.
Police said Leddick was captured early Saturday morning after a four-hour manhunt.
“I really feel like we saved her life,” Hodge told the newspaper. “If we would have got to her any later, I believe she would have lost her life.”
Leddick was paroled June 24 from the Watertown Correctional Facility after serving three years of a 3-to-7-year sentence for grand larceny in Otsego County. Parole officials issued a warrant for him July 22. He had no previous sex offenses on his record, Coots said.
A county prosecutor did return calls from The Associated Press and it could not immediately be determined whether Leddick has a lawyer.
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