“Because of you, I can’t sleep at night. Why did you do what you did,” a prosecutor read from a statement written by the 9-year-old victim to 47-year-old Craig Ross Jr.
Craig Ross Jr., the 47-year-old man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl he abducted while she was on a camping trip with her family, has been sentenced to 47 years to life in prison.
In the courtroom, the prosecutor read a statement written by the 9-year-old victim.
“Because of you, I can’t sleep at night. Why did you do what you did? Did something happen to make you do this? It bothers me that you took advantage of me being nice,” the prosecutor read.
The young girl went missing when was riding her bike at an Upstate New York campground on September 30.
The search at Moreau State Park outside Albany gained national attention after the kidnapper delivered a ransom note demanding $50,000.
The fingerprints on the note led authorities to Ross.
The girl was found on Oct. 2 imprisoned inside a cabinet in Ross’ camper.
“You are haunting my thoughts but now I will be haunting yours,” the girl wrote in the note read in court. “Eventually I might forget you, but you won’t forget me.”
District attorney Karen Heggen spoke with Inside Edition.
“He sat there with not any kind of emotion or response, which was disheartening,” Heggen said.
The girl’s aunt was in court when the statement was read.
“For a 9-year-old to be so articulate and eloquent with her words and you could tell that it was a child that wrote it but it was so thoughtful,” she said.
The girl’s mother tearfully read a statement.
“I don't understand why people like you do the things you do. You took something from my daughter that can't be replaced and I will never forgive you for that,” the mother said.
