Charges Filed in Sherburne County Child Abduction, AMBER Alert
BY MN CRIME STAFF
A 28-year-old man is charged with kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct after a young girl was abducted in Sherburne County on Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities say the 7-year-old was taken after getting off her school bus in Zimmerman and eventually found hours later during a traffic stop in Albert Lea.
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Joseph Andrew Bragg, who is listed in court documents as having an International Falls address, is charged with kidnapping to facilitate a felony and first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child under 14, according to a criminal complaint. Deputies were called early that evening to a Zimmerman home after the girl didn't return from school as expected.
According to the complaint, the child was normally dropped off by the bus around 3:40 p.m. but never arrived home. Family members confirmed that no one else had permission to pick her up and neighbors provided video showing the child walking toward her residence, then turning back toward the bus stop and out of view. A coordinated search of the girl’s neighborhood didn’t turn up any clues to her location.
During the investigation, the child’s mother told deputies she had an unusual Facebook interaction in December with a man using the name “Joseph Bragg.” She said the man asked personal questions, expressed interest in children and claimed to work in child care. After the conversation made her uncomfortable, she blocked him. Investigators later identified the account as belonging to Joseph Andrew Bragg, now charged in the abduction case.
READ MORE > Sherburne County coverage
Law enforcement developed info that Bragg had access to a rented white Dodge Ram pickup and obtained emergency location data for his cell phone. That data showed him traveling southbound toward Iowa, the documents say. An AMBER Alert was issued as agencies were notified of the suspect, the missing child and the vehicle description.
Just after 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22, an Albert Lea police sergeant stopped a pickup matching the suspect vehicle at a truck stop after noticing a broken taillight. Bragg was identified as the driver and officers spotted a girl in the back seat who was confirmed to be the missing child. A suitcase believed to be empty was found near her and she was seated in a booster seat. Bragg was arrested and declined to give a statement to police.
PREVIOUSLY: AMBER Alert Leads to Arrest After Child Found in Albert Lea
The complaint says investigators later learned Bragg used a ride-share service with the child to travel from the Hamel area to a hotel in Plymouth. Hotel staff confirmed Bragg had been staying there from late December until the day of the incident. Surveillance footage showed him entering the hotel alone with a large red suitcase and leaving with it about 30 minutes later.
Investigators also located a vehicle associated with Bragg at a residence in Hamel, where a resident reported he had asked to store it there while traveling out of state. Location data placed the rental pickup near the child’s residence around the time she would have gotten off the bus on Jan. 21 and again around the same time the day before.
The child was later interviewed and examined. According to the complaint, she reported being in a room with Bragg without her clothes on and described sexual contact.
Bragg is charged with kidnapping to facilitate a felony—which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison—and first-degree criminal sexual conduct, with a maximum sentence of 30 years.
Bragg made an initial court appearance where bail was set at $2 million with conditions including GPS monitoring and intensive supervision.
