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Wyoming Public Safety arrests suspect in 2002 abduction/sexual assault case

Posted at 10:15 AM, Nov 20, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-20 16:14:24-05

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A man who allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 4-year-old girl in 2002 was arrested Thursday evening by Wyoming Public Safety officers.

44-year-old Richard Adams, 44, was arraigned Friday morning on charges of:

  • First-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim under the age of 13
  • Kidnapping
  • Second-degree Criminal Sexual Donduct during a felony

If convicted, Adams faces life in prison.

In August of 2002, Wyoming police officers were called to the Amsterdam Gardens Apartment complex in the 3000 block of Eastern Ave. SE regarding a missing four-year-old child.

The child was soon located after showing up on a stranger’s front porch in rural northern Kent County.

Investigation showed that the child had been abducted from her apartment building, seriously assaulted, then left injured and alone in Algoma Township.

Recently, investigators received a long awaited call from the Michigan State Police Grand Rapids DNA Unit.

Suspect DNA collected during the initial investigation had been matched to a subject recently arrested outside Kent County in an unrelated incident.

The DNA collected from the 2002 scene matched this subject, and after an arrest warrant was filed by a Kent County Prosecutor, this subject was arrested and subsequently charged with Kidnapping and Criminal Sexual Conduct.

Upon the DNA match, investigators located the suspect near the 600 block of Ionia SW in Grand Rapids around 6:00 pm Thursday evening.

We will report more details regarding the suspect when they become readily available.