FBI Chicago is seeking information regarding a kidnapping that occurred in the area of 153rd Street and Burnham Avenue in Calumet City, Illinois, on December 20, 2017. If you have any information regarding the vehicle and/or individual seen in the video below on this date or any dates prior, please contact the FBI Chicago Field Office at 312-421-6700 or [email protected].
An Indiana man has been indicted on a federal kidnapping charge for allegedly abducting a child from a Calumet City street in broad daylight on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 when BRYAN PROTHO allegedly was caught on video grabbing the child as she walked on the sidewalk near 153rd Street and Burnham Avenue in Calumet City.
The criminal information was described according to an indictment returned Thursday and a criminal complaint previously filed in the case. Protho walked up casually toward the victim while appearing to use his cell phone, and then forced the minor into the passenger door of his red Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle. He then drove away, the complaint states. The abduction encounter occurred in less than 30 seconds. Prothos then parked the vehicle in an alley and assaulted the child, the complaint states. The victim was able to escape and flag down a passing vehicle, and law enforcement was contacted.
Protho, 38, of East Chicago, Ind., was arrested on December 27, 2017, and he remains in federal custody. The indictment charges him with one count of kidnapping. Arraignment is set for February 20, 2018, at 9:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has record of an inmate Bryan Wesley Protho, age 38, at Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC Chicago).
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Christopher Fletcher, Chief of the Calumet City Police Department; and Dennis Murrin, Jr., Chief of the Lansing Police Department. The FBI and the local departments jointly investigated the case.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The kidnapping charge is punishable by a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher V. Parente.
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