The Washington County Circuit Court has sentenced a convicted man after he stole a minivan and kidnapped a 9-month-old baby.
Marcus Esa Paul, age 25, was sentenced to 110 months in prison on Monday for his convictions of Kidnapping, Criminal Mistreatment, and Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle stemming from the crime.
The incident began at 6:30 a.m. on July 27, 2022, in Tualatin. The adult male victim, a father, was picking up a dog at Oregon Dog Rescue. As the man stood near his minivan, Paul jumped inside the vehicle and drove away. The father's 9-month-old son was in a carseat in the van.
Paul sped away in the minivan and onto Interstate 205. He exited the freeway in Oregon City, found a remote section of a residential area, and abandoned the baby on the ground behind a guardrail - near the edge of a steep slope.
He then continued northbound on I-205 as police tracked him using cell phone technology. Paul left the minivan at a location off NE Prescott and fled on foot across rush-hour traffic on the I-205. He tried to hide underneath several bags of another person’s belongings on the Parkrose MAX platform but was soon apprehended by Portland and Tualatin Police officers.
A citizen who had been walking her dog in Oregon City found the infant in the brush and called 911. The child was uninjured.
On September 30 a Washington County jury found Paul guilty of all charges following a four-day trial, with sentencing to follow in November. Paul was convicted of:
- Kidnapping in the Second Degree
- Three counts of Criminal Mistreatment in the First Degree
- Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle
The judge in Monday's sentencing cited the aggravated nature of the case and the vulnerability of the child victim as the initiative for the sentence. The victim’s parents attended the sentencing hearing and made a statement to the court.
Paul was transferred immediately to the Oregon Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence.