A Michigan man accused of taking a 14-year-old Mount Vernon girl across state lines pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for traveling with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor and enticement of a minor.
Keith Freerksen, 31, was arrested in South Haven Township, an hour south of Grand Rapids, on Jan. 31, 2024, following an investigation by federal and local law enforcement, said U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman. The victim was reported missing by her family on Jan. 5, 2024, after Freerksen drove from Michigan to Washington to pick the victim up and drove her back to Michigan.
During the investigation, law enforcement discovered the two had met on Omegle, a website that has been accused of facilitating child abuse. Freerksen is a sex offender in Florida, having previously been convicted of possessing child pornography.
Freerksen’s car was also registered on multiple license plate readers traveling through Illinois, then Idaho, according to court documents.
A search warrant conducted by Michigan law enforcement was able to find the victim at Freerksen’s residence.
At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 5 in Seattle, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin noted the trauma inflicted on the victim’s family. She said for 30 days, the family searched for the victim, even calling every morgue in Washington state with fear their child was dead.
Gorman called the case “every parent’s nightmare.”
“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,” she said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecelia Gregson, who prosecuted the case, wrote to the court that it was alarming none of Freerksen’s family members stopped him when he returned home with the victim.
“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,” she wrote.
The victim’s parents thanked law enforcement for finding and rescuing their child.
The 20-year sentence will run concurrently with a 15- to 70-year state sentence in Michigan. He will have to register as a sex offender once he exits prison and will have to serve 20 years of supervised release.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
