VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) - The man who tried to kidnap a 15-year-old girl in front of her Encinitas home was sentenced Monday to seven years in jail.
Jeremiah Owens, 28, grabbed the girl and pinned her to the ground as she waxed her surfboard in front of her home on Neptune Ave in July 2017.
Owens tried to drag the girl to a nearby pickup truck occupied by Christopher White, but the girl was able to break free and run home.
White was arrested two days after the assault when a witness matched his pickup truck to the description of one which deputies wanted to find. Owens was arrested hours later.
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Owens could have received nine years in jail, but a judge gave him seven years and ordered him to register as a sex offender for life.
White pleaded guilty Tuesday to being an accessory to kidnapping and will be sentenced June 19.
The girl and her parents attended Owens' sentencing but did not make a statement. She now gives public lectures on self-defense.
