A Colorado Man Enters a Not Guilty Plea to the Kidnapping and Molestation of a Bakersfield Girl
DEBARYLIFE – The Colorado man who is suspected of taking an 11-year-old Bakersfield girl to Utah entered a not-guilty plea at Kern County Superior Court on Thursday to the accusations of kidnapping and child molestation.
Joshua Michael Stehle, 29, is accused of two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of fourteen, two counts of approaching a minor for sexual purposes, one count of kidnapping a minor for lewd or lascivious acts, one count of using a minor for sexual materials, and one count of concealing a firearm in a vehicle.
Although Stehle was supposed to be arraigned on April 4, defense attorney Mark Anthony Raimondo stated he was still working out the specifics with the family to be retained as Stehle’s legal representative.
To avoid proceeding without Stehle’s legal representation, the prosecution, Deputy District Attorney Gina Pearl, consented to postpone the hearing.
Appointed as Stelhle’s lawyer, Raimondo entered not guilty pleas on his behalf at the hearing on Thursday.
Stehle was taken from Salina, Utah, where he was detained on March 17 along with the young child, and charged on April 4. Stehle and the girl may have thought they were in a relationship because they had been corresponding online, according to Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood.
Youngblood added that KCSO deputies took the kid back to Kern County after she was found in Utah. At a March 19 press conference, the sheriff informed the reporters that the child had not suffered any bodily harm, but Youngblood would not say whether she had suffered any sexual trauma.
The date of Stehle’s upcoming pre-preliminary hearing is April 22. Bail is not being requested for him.