WARNING: This story contains details of child sexual abuse.
An American man who kidnapped a girl from Edmonton and smuggled her across the U.S. border two and a half years ago pleaded guilty on Monday to two felonies.
Noah Madrano, 43, faced six U.S. federal charges and his trial was set to begin Monday in the U.S. District Court of Oregon in Portland.
Instead, he submitted a plea deal, forgoing a trial. He plead guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The girl’s family said the two counts he plead guilty to encompass the remaining charges.
The first count carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years. The second count has a minimum sentence of 10 years with a maximum of life in prison.
Madrano was arrested July 2, 2022 in a hotel room in Oregon and charged after a 13-year-old girl from Edmonton was kidnapped outside her school.
Noah Madrano, seen in an undated photo from Facebook.
Madrano met the girl online and sexually exploited her for more than a year before the abduction occurred, according to Madrano’s plea agreement.
During that time, the youth sent Madrano numerous images and videos of herself engaging in sexually explicit acts. Madrano then posted some of that content to his public social media accounts.
At the end of May 2022, Madrano traveled from Oregon to Canada, where he met the girl in a hotel room and told her to perform a sexual act while he recorded it.
The plea agreement said he took the recording back to Oregon where he made copies.
According to the plea agreement, three weeks later, Madrano then returned to Edmonton and picked the girl up from her school.
From June 24 until July 1, 2022, the agreement stated he hid the girl in a hotel room in Canada, where he sexually abused her repeatedly.
He made the girl dye her hair to change her appearance, then drove back across the U.S. border with the girl hidden in his trunk.
Madrano took the girl to a hotel room in Oregon City, Ore. where they had sex. The girl was 13 at the time. He was 41.
In the early morning hours of July 2, at which point the girl had been missing for a week, FBI and Oregon City Police officers got inside Madrano’s hotel room and found him there with the minor.
The girl was taken into protective custody and returned to her parents in Canada.
No trial a relief for Edmonton family
Her family is relieved Madrano is accepting responsibility for his crimes.
“It would be detrimental to our daughter to have to sit through a five-day trial — recount the whole experience in front of a courtroom, her family and friends and media,” her father said on Monday to Global News.
“This has been a long time coming to get to this point,” the victim’s mother said. “He is finally taking responsibility for the crimes he committed against our daughter.”
The family said they are grateful the case will not go to trial, avoiding their daughter having to take the stand and recount the “egregious abuse she suffered at his hands.”
“Our daughter is in high school now. She has proven to be very resilient and strong,” her mom added. “She is in therapy and takes a lot of activities outside of school.
“She is living the best ‘normal’ life that she could.”
Her mother went on to say it’s been a difficult chapter for the entire family.
“Our lives have been forever changed by this experience and we know that we are not alone.”
Madrano’s lawyer declined comment on Monday.
Madrano’s U.S. federal sentencing is set for April 8.
Madrano also faces charges at the state level and Edmonton police have said he could face charges in Canada too. The teen’s parents say those charges are likely to proceed after the federal sentencing is complete.