Background: The public entry to the Anchorage Correctional Complex on Wednesday, May 23, 2018, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Dan Joling) Inset: David Anderson (U.S. Justice Department)
An Alaska man’s future seems to be conclusively determined as he received a 50-year sentence in federal prison for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenager.
The Justice Department announced on Wednesday that David Anderson, 52, will all but assuredly spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The sentencing followed a judgment issued last October on State of Alaska Department of Law charges, where an Alaska superior court judge sentenced him to 85 years in prison.
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Prosecutors detailed the events of a haunting November 2022 afternoon in which Anderson’s victim survived because of her “extraordinary bravery.” Her efforts to escape after being left for dead likely ensured Anderson would “never walk free or harm another child again,” according to prosecutors.
It was Nov. 2, 2022, when a 14-year-old girl stepped off her school bus in Wasilla, Alaska, and started walking home. It’s cold in that city in November – and it was indeed that year – with temperatures hovering around freezing, according to Weather Spark, an historical weather data set.
Anderson allegedly followed the girl in his car and told her he was lost. After the man lured the child inside the vehicle, he pointed a revolver at her and told her to smoke a meth pipe, which she pretended to do, The Anchorage Daily News reported.
The defendant is said to have duct taped her hands, placed a blanket over her head, hit her, and then sexually assaulted her before covering his eyes and shooting the revolver in her direction. He left her in a wooded area, disassembled and discarded the gun, and drove away. However, as Anderson would later find out, the girl actually was not dead.
The girl reportedly told investigators she chewed through the duct tape and then found help on a nearby road. Anderson was arrested the very next day and imprisoned at at Anchorage Correctional Complex.
The victim participated remotely in his federal sentencing hearing that ended this week, according to the Daily News.
Anderson – who was already a registered sex offender in 2022 after a conviction in 2000 for sexually assaulting a minor – was said to have been struggling with an addiction to methamphetamine before that November day. He allegedly told investigators after being caught that he had “let the monster out.”
According to the local newspaper, Anderson’s state conviction last year followed a plea agreement with prosecutors that dismissed charges such as attempted murder.
Authorities celebrated Anderson’s imprisonment – while also appearing unsettled by his “unimaginable” crimes.
“Mr. Anderson perpetrated an unimaginable random act of horror and will spend the rest of his life in the only appropriate place, prison,” U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman for the District of Alaska said in a press release. “The survivor showed extraordinary bravery in escaping this horror and the Alaska State Troopers and FBI mounted an incredible investigation to hold this predator accountable.”
Alaska State Trooper Colonel Maurice Hughes said: “Today’s federal sentence, combined with the State of Alaska’s sentence of 85 years means that this violent man will never be released back into our community to victimize another Alaskan child.”
“Your Alaska State Troopers most important duty is to protect our most vulnerable, and this case stands as a powerful example of how federal and state law enforcement can work together to bring the full weight of justice to bear,” Hughes added.
Wasilla is about 40 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska’s biggest city. There is a sprawling wooded area near the small city, which has a population of just about 10,000 people.
