WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ) – A Waupaca County man who is charged with holding a teen hostage for more than a week pleaded Not Guilty in court Tuesday.
Elijah Kerrigan also allegedly texted a ransom demand to the teen’s mother.
He is facing 12 counts including sexual assault of a child.
The 15-year-old girl had been missing since New Year’s Eve.
The Shawano Police Department met up with federal agents on January 8th, which was the morning that the girl’s mother received the text message demanding $2,500 dollars.
Investigators learned police had been called to Kerrigan’s motel room the day before for the odor of marijuana.
That room was registered to Kerrigan.
Police entered the motel room, arrested Kerrigan, and found the teenage girl hiding under the bed.
In an interview with police, the girl said she ran away from home on Dec. 30. She knew Kerrigan, and viewed him as a “father figure.”
The girl said she did drugs with Kerrigan, meth, and marijuana because it helped with her anxiety. Kerrigan made money selling drugs from the hotel room.
The girl also said the two also had sex. And a video was discovered on his phone showing the two engaged in a sex act, the complaint states.
He is charged with nine felonies, including kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault of a child, child enticement, child sexploitation, false imprisonment, and drug distribution to a minor.
