Ex-Soldier Sentenced For Fake Kidnapping Of 12-Year-Old NC Girl

NORTH CAROLINA — A former Fort Bragg soldier was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison Tuesday for taking a 12-year-old North Carolina girl across state lines for criminal sexual activity after faking her kidnapping, according to federal prosecutors.

James Murdoch Peel's sentencing to 151 months in prison stemmed from an October 2018 incident where the girl's grandmother found the child missing from her room in their New Bern home.

"The window was open, and a hand-written ransom note demanded $20,000 for her return," the Department of Justice's Eastern District of North Carolina U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. "Investigators found mulch from a flower bed on the granddaughter's bed and smudges on the window, but no sign of forced entry."

A review of the girls' Facebook page identified Peele as a boyfriend, DOJ said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation then identified him as an enlisted U.S. Army soldier.

According to prosecutors, Peele initially took the girl from her North Carolina home to his parents' home in South Carolina, where they were for a short period of time before he was called back to Fort Bragg by his sergeant.

"[The FBI] traced him to a barracks room, where the same afternoon they found Peele together with the minor victim. A forensic examination confirmed that Peele had recently had sexual intercourse with the minor," DOJ said.

A friend of Peele's told federal investigators that the week prior he had given Peele a ride to New Bern and Peele insisted the girl was 18 years old. "When they arrived, however, Peele instructed the friend to park at a vacant neighboring house," while he climbed through a window into the home.

"The friend also entered the room and became concerned about the girl's age after noticing childlike decor, including middle school photographs and a hamster," DOJ said. "The friend explained to investigators that he had become disgusted and left the room when Peele and the minor began kissing."

Peele made a video confession admitting to having sexual intercourse with the minor and to writing the ransom note, but "stated that the victim had asked to leave with him and had come up with the idea of staging a kidnapping." The victim told investigators that Peele was aware of her age, and denied coming up with the idea of staging a kidnapping.

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