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Charges were filed Friday against a 28-year-old man who allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl from Zimmerman earlier in the week.

Joseph Andrew Bragg of International Falls was charged in Sherburne County court with kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct involving a child.

The girl’s disappearance on Wednesday afternoon prompted a large search of the area, and an 

 sent to phones across Minnesota. She was located early Thursday.

The girl was reported missing after she didn’t return home after school on Wednesday afternoon. Neighbors confirmed she had been dropped off by the school bus, but home camera footage showed the girl turning around and walking back toward the bus stop, out of view. No other people or vehicles were seen in the footage, and a search of the neighborhood failed to locate the girl.

The child’s mother told investigators about an unusual social media interaction in December with a person named Joseph Bragg, who added her on Facebook. 

“She initially ‘added’ him back as she thought she recognized him as a relative of an associate (but) determined after communication with the individual that they did not know each other,” the complaint states. 

The person asked the girl’s mother whether she had children, and said they wanted children of their own. 

“The individual explained he works in child care and asked if (the girl’s mother) knew anyone in the Zimmerman/Princeton area looking for services,” the complaint states. She eventually blocked the individual.

The complaint says authorities connected the Facebook profile to Joseph Andrew Bragg, learned he had access to a rental pickup truck, and started tracking his cell phone — which showed him traveling south toward Iowa. Other law enforcement agencies were notified.

Just after 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, an Albert Lea police officer spotted a matching pickup at a truck stop, conducted a traffic stop for a broken taillight, and found Bragg inside — with the missing girl in the back seat. 

The complaint says additional investigation showed the rental truck was near the victim’s home around the time she went missing on Wednesday, and also the previous afternoon. And the complaint alleges Bragg was at a Plymouth hotel with the girl after the abduction. 

During a later interview with investigators, the girl described being sexually assaulted by Bragg. Bragg did not provide a statement to investigators. He was due in court on Friday afternoon.

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Charges were filed Friday against a 28-year-old man who allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl from Zimmerman earlier in the week.


Man charged with kidnapping, sexually assaulting child from Sherburne County

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