CrimeMan accused in Fort Worth girl's kidnapping had previous sexual assault case dismissed

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Man accused in Fort Worth girl ’ s kidnapping had previous sexual assault case dismissed . Fort Worth police said two people who attend a local church had spotted the car while driving around to help find the girl after seeing an image of the suspect’ s car on social media.

(The Fort Worth Police Department via AP) A man accused in the kidnapping of an 8-year-old Fort Worth girl Saturday evening had been charged last year with sexual assault in Smith County but the case was later dismissed .

© The Associated Press This booking photo from the Fort Worth Police Department shows Michael Webb under arrest on Sunday, May 19, 2019, in Texas. Webb has been charged in the abduction of an 8-year-old girl who was snatched from a street in Fort Worth, Texas, as she walked with her mother. Fort Worth police say the girl was found safe Sunday, about eight hours later, at a hotel in nearby Forest Hill. Webb was arrested at the scene on an aggravated kidnapping charge. (The Fort Worth Police Department via AP) A man accused in the kidnapping of an 8-year-old Fort Worth girl Saturday evening had been charged last year with sexual assault in Smith County but the case was later dismissed.

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Michael Webb, 51, has been charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping and six counts of sexual assault of a child in Tarrant County, court records show. The man accused of kidnapping an 8-year-old girl in Fort Worth last month now faces a slew of rape charges.

Editor’ s note: This story has been edited to remove the name of the girl who was kidnapped because of the nature of the allegations later added against the suspect. Man accused in Fort Worth girl ’ s kidnapping had previous sexual assault case dismissed .

Smith County court records show Michael Webb, 51, was indicted in June on second-degree felony charges of sexual assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Both charges, however, were dismissed on a motion filed by prosecutors in November.

Richard Vance, the Smith County prosecutor who handled the case, said Sunday the dismissal came after the alleged victim in the case became uncooperative and apparently left the state.

“Our hands were pretty much tied on that one, otherwise we would have prosecuted him,” Vance said.

Vance said the charge stemmed from a single incident on April 26, 2018, at a Tyler motel.

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The documents said he had previously been convicted of a sexual offense and had violated his parole. “I asked Juh’Juan if he knew the stipulations of his parole, to which he Prosecutors charged Washington with 15 counts, including felony sexual coercion, first-degree kidnapping and robbery.

FORT WORTH , Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Michael Webb, the man accused of a brazen kidnapping in Fort Worth of an 8-year-old girl now faces six counts of sexual assault of a child. That’ s in addition to his aggravated kidnapping charge. Webb allegedly grabbed the girl while she was walking with her

He said the alleged victim, a woman in her 30s or 40s with a history of prostitution, had initially indicated to authorities that she and Webb were in some type of relationship. She accused him of striking her while displaying a deadly weapon and sexually assaulting her, Vance said.

“From the get-go, she was filing affidavits of non-prosecution,” Vance said. “That, in and of itself, doesn’t keep us from prosecuting but we made attempts to contact her with no success.”

Vance said investigators determined the woman, who had outstanding warrants for her arrest, had likely gone to another state.

“She was actively avoiding us,” Vance said. “... She was uncooperative, wanted, and was in a different state and was clearly moving around on the run.”

With the trial date approaching, Vance said, the District Attorney’s office decided to dismiss the charges without prejudice. By doing so, he said, the option to still prosecute Webb in the future if they found the alleged victim remained open.

8-year-old girl kidnapped in Fort Worth is found safe; police say suspect is in custody

May 19-- An 8-year-old girl who was kidnapped Saturday evening in Fort Worth was found safe early Sunday morning, police said. The girl was identified by police as Salem Sabatka at 10 p.m. Saturday. 

It has been revealed that the suspect in the recent kidnapping of a girl in Fort Worth , Texas, had been charged with sexual assault last year in Richard Vance, the Smith County prosecutor who handled the case , told the Star-Telegram on May 19 that the witness was uncooperative and left Texas.

Man accused in Fort Worth girl ’ s kidnapping had previous sexual assault case dismissed . Nichole Manna is an investigative reporter for the Star-Telegram. Before moving to Fort Worth in July 2018, she covered crime and breaking news in Tennessee, North Carolina, Nebraska and Kansas.

“If we’d gone to trial without her, we’d run the risk of a not-guilty,” Vance said.

Vance said learning that Webb is now accused of kidnapping a young girl is disturbing news.

“When I heard the name, it bothers you because you hate hearing that as a prosecutor,” Vance said. “But our hands were pretty much tied on that one.”

Attorney Jason Parrish, who represented Webb in the dismissed Smith County cases, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Webb is accused of kidnapping 8-year-old Salem Sabatka as she walked with her mother near W. Lowden Street and 6th Avenue just after 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Police have said a man got out of a gray four-door sedan, grabbed the girl and pulled her into his car.

The child’s mother managed to jump into the car but was pushed out. A neighbor’s security camera captured the mother falling to the ground and her cries pleading for help.

Salem was found safe about eight hours later — at about 2:30 a.m. — at the WoodSprings Suites hotel in Forest Hill.

Fort Worth police said two people who attend a local church had spotted the car while driving around to help find the girl after seeing an image of the suspect’s car on social media. They led police to the hotel, where officers breached a door and found Salem inside.

Webb was arrested and the child was taken to a hospital to be checked out.

He is charged with aggravated kidnapping.

Webb doesn’t have a criminal history in Tarrant County, according to court records. His last known address is listed in Tyler, records say.

Webb has arrest records in Bowie County dating back to 1989 including burglary of a vehicle, burglary of a building, failure to identify as a fugitive and resisting arrest. In Tyler, Webb has been arrested on charges of terroristic threats, evading arrest and drug possession.

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