Washington County man found guilty of kidnapping New York girl

A 54-year-old Washington County man was convicted of kidnapping Wednesday for driving a 14-year-old New York girl to Minnesota after they met on an Internet chat line.

Michael Angelo Goerlich of Landfall was found guilty of three felony counts after a two-day jury trial in Washington County District Court in Stillwater. Judge Gary Schurrer ordered Goerlich held in jail without bail until his Jan. 16 sentencing.

"You can't take a 14-year-old more than 900 miles from her parents without breaking the law," prosecutor Jessica Stott said afterward.

Goerlich was convicted of one count of kidnapping with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct, one count of kidnapping with intent to deprive parental rights, and one count of false imprisonment/intentional restraint.

In a series of online conversations, Goerlich arranged in May to meet the girl near her home in Rochester, N.Y., and persuaded her to return with him to Minnesota, according to the criminal complaint.

An Amber Alert was issued in New York after her parents discovered she was gone.

A few days later a Washington County sheriff's deputy found the girl in a locked bedroom at the back of Goerlich's mobile home in Landfall, a small mobile home city next to Oakdale.

According to the complaint, the girl told officials that she met Goerlich in an Internet chat room where he initially masqueraded as another girl. Goerlich asked that she send him naked photos of herself, and she was convinced he wanted to pursue a romantic or sexual relationship with her, the complaint said.

When he drove to New York to see her, they talked in his car about going to Minnesota. She at first resisted but eventually agreed, the complaint said.

Goerlich initially told his roommate and a deputy that the girl was 19, the complaint said, but later admitted she had told him she was 14.

The girl testified in the trial, as did her parents.

"What she indicated was that she really didn't expect him to show up," Stott said.

The jury deliberated about two hours before reaching a verdict, Stott said.