A Valley sex offender was sentenced Friday for the abduction of a young girl in Mesa in 2011.
Jeffrey VanWagoner, 53, pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping and attempted sexual conduct with a minor.
He received 10 years in prison and a lifetime of intensive supervised probation.
VanWagoner's sentencing took place nearly five years after he grabbed and drove off with a 9-year-old girl near Stapley Drive and McKellips Road in Mesa, according to police.
Police said VanWagoner lured the girl and her friend by claiming he had a puppy in January 2011. He then grabbed the victim and drove away.
VanWagoner reportedly let the girl out of his car near Brown and Gilbert roads, and she was not physically hurt.
She knocked on the door of a nearby house and asked to call her mother, police said.
VanWagoner was already labeled a Level 2 registered sex offender from a prior conviction for child molestation and sexual conduct with a minor.
However, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office failed to inform residents and schools around the area of Sienna Estates who were left unaware of VanWagoner's past.
