Not Guilty Plea! Colorado Man Pleads Not Guilty to Allegedly Abducting 11-year-old Bakersfield Girl
After the March disappearance of an 11-year-old Bakersfield girl shocked many in the community, fresh information from a Kern County Sheriff’s Office report reveals that the girl and a 29-year-old Colorado man sent romantic messages to one another, making plans for marriage and children together.
Joshua Michael Stehle claimed in Kern County Superior Court on Wednesday that the girl he was texting was 15 years old, as requested by The Californian. He made preparations to flee with the girl when she reached 18.
On March 17, Salina, Utah, arrested Stehle on suspicion of kidnapping and assaulting the missing Bakersfield girl. According to the allegations, Stehle sexually assaulted the girl, and she discovered he was carrying a handgun.
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood stated during a press conference on March 19 that when Salina Police Department officers discovered Stehle and the girl, there was a pistol in the car, but the girl was unharmed. Within a week, authorities had returned the girl to Kern County from Utah.
According to the report, the girl’s mother was watching television with her daughter the night she went missing. The mother fell asleep on the couch, and when she awoke at 5 a.m., her daughter was not in the trailer where they resided.
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The girl’s friends told deputies that she was in an online relationship with an older man from Utah who went by the name “Simon.” The friends claimed the couple had been dating for a few months.
Authorities discovered hundreds of images of the girl that she had provided to Stehle, as well as hundreds of phone conversations made by Stehle.
Social media and text conversations also revealed that the two felt they were in a romantic relationship. According to the story, in some of the messages, the two would proclaim their love for each other, call each other “fiancee,” and discuss when they wanted to have children.
According to the police investigation, some of the texts had sexual content.
To relieve his anxiety, Stehle asked the girl in one message chain to reassure her of how much she loved him. One of the girl’s acquaintances told deputies that she agreed to be Stehle’s girlfriend because she knew he had severe anxiety.
The report also cites some of Stehle’s Google searches, such as “emancipation from parents in California,” “how to deal with a long-distance relationship,” “I’m 18 but look 12,” and “how often are abducted children found.”
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The charges against Stehle included two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, two counts of contacting a minor for sex, one count of kidnapping a minor under the age of 14 for lewd or lascivious acts, one count of possessing materials from a minor engaged in sexual conduct, one count of using an underage person for sexual materials, and one count of carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
He pleaded not guilty to all counts on April 4. The court has scheduled his next hearing for June 13. He’s currently imprisoned without bail.