A grand jury indicted the man accused of kidnapping an 8-year-old Fort Worth girl, just hours after he declined to enter a plea Wednesday morning.
Michael Webb, 51, signed papers that signaled his intention to plead guilty to a document that does not require a grand jury indictment, but at Wednesday's hearing opted not to enter a plea, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
Prosecutors then decided to present Webb's case to a grand jury, which resulted in a charge of kidnapping, Nealy Cox said.
"We are determined to hold the defendant accountable for his alleged crime. If he wants a trial -- which is his right -- we are prepared to prove the facts before a jury," Nealy Cox said. "We'll do whatever it takes to bring this man to justice."
Webb is accused of a May kidnapping in Fort Worth, in which he abducted an 8-year-old girl who was walking on 6th Avenue with her mother.
According to Fort Worth police, Webb allegedly snatched the girl and put her in his car at about 6:38 p.m. The girl's mother jumped into the car to try to fight Webb, but she was pushed out as he drove away with her daughter, police said.
After an Amber Alert was issued at about 11 p.m., the young girl was found in a Forest Hill hotel room about four hours later. Two hours before her rescue, Forest Hill police officers actually spoke with Webb in the room, but didn't see the missing girl.
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In the a court document obtained Tuesday by NBC 5, Webb agreed to a guilty plea with a maximum penalty between 20 years and life behind bars. Webb also faces a fine up to $250,000, he must register as a sex offender and, should he be let out of prison, he'll face five years of supervised release.
The federal charge came, prosecutors said in the document, because Webb used his phone, the internet, a car, hotel and interstate highways while committing the kidnapping.
Webb also faces seven state charges, including one kidnapping charge and six charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
