Md. Man Pleads Guilty In 1980 Kidnapping, Assault
BEDFORD, Pa. (AP) -- A Maryland man has pleaded guilty in a 31-year-old kidnapping and sex assault case in Pennsylvania.
The Altoona Mirror reports John Leroy Kroll, 62, pleaded guilty Thursday in the cross-border kidnapping of a then-9-year-old girl from Cumberland, Md.
Kroll was scheduled to go in trial in Bedford County court but pleaded guilty instead to charges including attempted homicide, aggravated assault and indecent assault.
Prosecutors say Kroll took the girl in March 1980 then drove to southern Pennsylvania and assaulted the girl with a broom handle.
He was convicted in Maryland and sentenced to life in prison but the conviction was overturned because the sex crime happened out of state.
Sentencing is set for Jan. 12. District Attorney Bill Higgins tells The Mirror he hopes Kroll will die in prison.
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