TERRE HAUTE —
A Terre Haute man who kidnapped a 4-year-old boy last year has received a 20-year prison sentence in U.S. District Court.
Nicholas Runyon must also pay a $1,000 fine and will have 10 years of supervised release after serving his sentence in federal prison.
His co-conspirator, 29-year-old April D. Bell, was sentenced on Monday to 15 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Hogsett said in a news conference after Tuesday morning’s sentencing of Runyon that he is pleased with the outcome of both cases.
“These two people took what is a dream for most people — starting a family — and turned it into a nightmare for both the victim’s family, and for their own,” Hogsett said. “This is among the most significant cases that our office has prosecuted in many years, and I want to again thank the law enforcement here in Vigo County and across the country who helped this case have a happy ending.”
U.S. District Judge William T. Lawrence recommended that Runyon receive mental health counseling while he is serving the federal prison sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle L. Helart, who prosecuted the case for the government, suggested the counseling while saying that Runyon has not accepted responsibility for his part in the kidnapping.
“He is an untreated person,” she told the judge. “It’s scary to think he may get another harebrained idea and do something like this [again].”
The father of the child kidnapped by Runyon and Bell also addressed the judge, saying that his young son had to go to counseling after the incident, and still has nightmares and wakes up talking about being taken away from his family.
The boy “came back terrified and afraid — afraid they were gonna come and get him again,” the father told Lawrence.
The alleged kidnapping occurred July 26, 2011, after Runyon and Bell took the child under the false pretense of taking him to a birthday party for another child. Investigators said that Bell and Runyon planned to abduct the child and to raise him as their own.
The couple was arrested in Pikeville, Ky., two days after abducting him. They were indicted in federal court three months later on charges of kidnapping the child, who Runyon knew from a prior relationship with the child’s mother.
Reporter Lisa Trigg can be reached at 812-231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @TribStarLisa.
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