Defendant Pleads Guilty to Attempted Kidnapping and Simple Assault

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A DC Superior Court judge scheduled a defendant for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping and simple assault.

Michael Gasper picked up the charge for kidnapping a three-year-old child on the 1100 block of 4th Street, SW on June 21. According to court documents, the defendant was on the rooftop of an apartment building, socializing with the victim’s mother. Then, Gasper picked the child up and carried him to his apartment, where he held him for over an hour. Surveillance footage from the apartment’s elevator showed Gasper trying to calm the visibly upset child.

“The defendant intentionally carried the victim away to satisfy his own need for companionship,” the prosecutor said during the Oct. 28 hearing.

Gasper, 36, took a plea agreement with the prosecution wherein he would plead guilty to attempted kidnapping and simple assault rather than his initial charge of kidnapping.

Gasper will have to complete an alcohol treatment program before his sentencing, which Judge Michael Ryan scheduled for Oct. 29.

The prosecution will drop the attempted kidnapping charge if Gasper completes the program within 12 months.