Abduction suspect told Bakersfield girl, 11, he wanted to marry her: warrant

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — After spending months communicating with her online, a Colorado man traveled to Bakersfield and abducted and engaged in sexual contact with an 11-year-old girl, officials say. He gave her a “promise ring” and told her he’d marry her when she turned 18.

The allegations against Joshua Stehle are contained in a warrant included in court documents out of Utah, where the 29-year-old and the girl were stopped Sunday evening in a pickup traveling east on Interstate 70.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he believes Stehle was taking the girl back to his home in Thornton, Colorado.

Stehle is in custody in Salina, awaiting extradition to Kern County on suspicion of kidnapping, child abduction, false imprisonment, child molestation and contacting and arranging to meet a child for sex acts.

17 News is not naming the girl due to the nature of the alleged crimes.

Family members reported her missing around 5:30 a.m. Sunday, saying they’d last seen her at about 2 a.m.

Deputies searched the area and nearby homes but couldn’t locate her.

Some of her friends, however, provided crucial information: the girl told them she was dating a man who wanted to pick her up from her home and marry her.

Investigators examined a computer in the girl’s home and learned she’d been communicating for months on Snapchat with a Colorado man, according to the warrant.

Phone records linked to the girl had “significant recent activity” with a number with a 720 area code, according to the warrant. A records check showed the number belonged to Stehle, and investigators got the make and model of the vehicle he drove — a Chevy Silverado — and its license plate number, the warrant says.

Detectives pinged his number. It showed the phone was in the area of Baker, California at 6:23 a.m., traveling away from California toward Utah on I-70, according to the warrant.

Kern authorities notified Utah law enforcement agencies. The pickup was located near Salina with Stehle and the girl inside, and he was arrested, according to the warrant.

Stehle was in possession of a gun, the warrant says, and the girl told law enforcement that influenced some of her actions “because she knew he was armed with a firearm and was unsure of what he would do if she did not comply.”

She told investigators Stehle picked her up around 4 a.m., and, as they drove, took her cellphone and threw it out the window so authorities couldn’t track them, according to the warrant.

He discussed their relationship, the girl said, then put a ring on her finger, calling it a promise ring. She said he told her they were a couple now and he was going to marry her.

They pulled over somewhere in Utah, the girl told investigators, and Stehle placed a towel over the windshield. The alleged sexual contact then occurred, according to the warrant.

Youngblood said an interview has been conducted with Stehle, but didn’t disclose what the suspect said.

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