JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - A resident of Cumberland, MD, pleaded
guilty in federal court to charges of kidnapping and aggravated sexual abuse of
person under 12 years old, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced
today.
Timothy D. Nelson, Jr., 50, pleaded guilty to the two-count
information before United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson.
"This horrible crime struck fear into the heart of the
community," said U.S. Attorney Brady. "Through the perseverance and
dedication of law enforcement and the bravery of the victim, justice has been
served."
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised
that on September 19, 1999, Nelson drove into a Cairnbrook, Pennsylvania
neighborhood and drove past a group of three children multiple times. The group
was walking when the vehicle came by one more time, stopped, and Nelson exited
his car and asked them a question. As the minor victim, a 10-year old girl,
began to answer, Nelson grabbed the minor victim and placed her in the car
through the driver’s side and exited the area. Nelson then placed the minor
victim on the floor of the front passenger seat. While driving away from the
area of the abduction, Nelson threatened the minor victim with a handgun
pointing it at her head. The minor victim was screaming and Nelson struck the
minor victim with his hand in an attempt to quiet her.
At some point, Nelson drove the car and the minor victim
into West Virginia. When Nelson eventually stopped the car, he forced the minor
victim to perform a sex act. Afterwards, Nelson gave the minor victim a paper
bag and napkin to clean herself with. Nelson also cleaned himself and then
discarded the bag out the window.
Nelson then drove the vehicle in the direction of
Markleysburg, Pennsylvania and shortly after crossing the Pennsylvania line
from West Virginia, dropped the minor victim off on the side
of the road, instructed her to count to 100, and then
proceed to a location to call her mother. Subsequently, another vehicle
happened upon the minor victim who was in distress and offered her assistance.
Law enforcement responded, to include the Pennsylvania State Police.
The minor victim was subsequently able to direct law
enforcement to the location of the sexual assault and the brown paper bag and
napkin were recovered which appeared to contain evidence of the above-described
assault. The evidence was subsequently forensically examined and determined to
contain multiple partial fingerprints and DNA extracted from the bodily fluids.
Certain of the recovered partial prints were identified as originating from the
minor victim. There remained unidentified latent prints and a search through
the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), did not
return any results at that time. Likewise, the FBI Lab was successfully able to
identify a suitable DNA profile at that time, but when compared to the FBI
Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database, no matches were detected.
In April 2004, the FBI Laboratory reported that a DNA
profile generated from evidence from a different kidnapping / sexual assault of
another minor female, which occurred in September 1988 in Hagerstown, Maryland,
was a match to the DNA profile of the 1999 Cairnbrook, Pennsylvania kidnapping
event. This match was made from the FBI CODIS database, but the identity of the
perpetrator of these crimes was still unknown at that time.
Over the years, advancements were made to IAFIS and the new
fingerprint identification system called Next Generation Identification system
(NGI) came into existence.
In the Fall of 2018, the partial prints obtained from the
brown paper bag and napkin were re-submitted to NGI to search for a possible
match. NGI identified a possible match with a person identified as Timothy
David Nelson. The FBI Laboratory subsequently confirmed the partial prints as a
match to Timothy David Nelson, Jr., who was living in Maryland.
On January 7, 2019, an arrest warrant was issued by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charging Nelson with multiple offenses to include,
but not limited to, Kidnapping and Aggravated Indecent Assault. Also, a federal
search warrant was issued for Nelson’s DNA.
On January 8, 2019, Nelson arrived at the Cumberland (MD)
City Police Department and the Pennsylvania arrest warrant and the federal DNA
search warrant were executed. Subsequent forensic analysis proved that Nelson’s
DNA was a match for the 1999 Cairnbrook kidnapping on September 19, 1999, as
well as a match to two separate kidnappings/sexual assaults on minor females
from 1988 and 1989 in Maryland.
"This case is just one of the many examples that
exemplify the FBI’s mission," said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge
Robert Jones. "Our agents and law enforcement partners are dedicated to
seeing cases through no matter how long it takes and working to get justice for
our victims."
Judge Gibson scheduled sentencing for August 27, 2019, at 2
p.m. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of life in prison, a fine of
$500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence
imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior
criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Haines is prosecuting
this case on behalf of the government.
The Pennsylvania State Police and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of
Nelson.
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