Minn. man sentenced for taking girl across state line

Published 9:56 am Monday, July 25, 2011

DULUTH, Minn. — A Duluth man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for taking a 13-year-old girl across state lines so he could sexually abuse her.

Forty-two-year-old Todd Richard Franik was sentenced Monday in federal court in Duluth. Franik pleaded guilty in November.

In a plea agreement, Franik admitted abducting the girl last August and taking her from Minnesota to Wisconsin. Franik also admitted he lured the girl near his car and took her to a remote place so he could sexually assault her.

The girl was walking her dog in Duluth when she was abducted. Authorities say Franik drove the girl to a wooded area in Minnesota, had sexual contact with her, then bound and gagged her.

The girl escaped.