‘Every parent’s nightmare:’ Man sentenced to 20 years for abducting WA girl
Feb 6, 2025, 6:34 AM | Updated: Feb 7, 2025, 5:38 pm
Police are unlikely to charge a man in the death of a dog. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
A man from South Haven, Michigan was sentenced to 20 years in prison in U.S. District Court in Seattle after he was found guilty of traveling with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor.
A 14-year-old girl from Mount Vernon went missing for nearly a month last year. She was eventually found by law enforcement in South Haven, Michigan with Keith Daniel Freerksen, 31 — the man sentenced in Seattle’s U.S. District Court Feb. 5.
The prosecuting team claimed Freerksen spent more than a year grooming the young teen.
“What happened in this case is every parent’s nightmare – a predator comes into the home via social media and computer screens and manipulates your child to run away,” U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said. “This defendant secreted a child away, leaving a distraught family searching desperately for their loved one. When the victim should have been involved in normal teenage activities, the teen was instead manipulated and ensnared by the defendant.”
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The events leading up to her disappearance
Freerksen was a person of interest for the police after friends of the missing girl told the girl’s mother that she was communicating with a man in his late 20s or early 30s online on social media platforms, including Discord. The mother explained to Fox News Digital that she previously punished her daughter for talking to the stranger by temporarily taking her phone away. She added that she did not realize the extent of any relationship her daughter may have been in.
“I didn’t fully realize the gravity of it …” the mother said to Fox News. “You always have something kind of going on with teenagers to some extent. But, I mean, she’s a really sweet, good-natured kid. So, the longer it went, the more the kids started opening up about (the online relationship).”
Investigators with Violent Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking learned the missing girl used a ride-sharing service. Due to Mount Vernon’s limited ride-sharing options, this gave officials a lead to help them locate her. The particular ride that she used was ordered by a man rumored to be named “Keith,” according to the Mount Vernon Police Department (MVPD). Investigators were then able to determine a ride-share was ordered to his address in South Haven on Tuesday.
“We don’t have many of those here in Mount Vernon,” MVPD Lt. Dave Shackleton told KIRO Newsradio regarding ride-share options. “There was, indeed, a subject named Keith who had ordered a ride-share for (her) and he had an address in South Haven, Michigan.”
Members of the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan went to a property on the Blue Star Memorial Highway and located the girl and the suspect.
“They found her at the subject’s residence,” Shackleton confirmed.
She was missing last year from Jan. 5 until Jan. 31. Freerksen is a registered sex offender in Michigan. He was ultimately transported to Western Washington and was detained at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac.
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“It is very alarming that neither of Freerksen’s family members intervened when he returned home with the then 14-year-old victim in tow. Freerksen was undeterred by his previous sex offense conviction, corresponding imprisonment and registration obligation,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecelia Gregson wrote to the court. “The rapid recidivism between Freerksen’s release from prison following child pornography offenses and the dedicated months he spent manipulating and enticing (the victim) is evidence he is either unwilling or unable to refrain from sexually abusing minors.”
Freerksen’s 20-year sentence will run concurrently alongside his 15-70-year indeterminate state sentence in Michigan. He will also have 20 years of supervised release following his time in prison.
“I never imagined a predator would travel across the country to steal (my child),” the victim’s mother stated.
A previous version of this article contained an incorrect photo. MyNorthwest.com regrets the error.
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
