WELLINGTON (New Zealand) - A CHINESE real estate agent who kidnapped a 5-year-old girl and demanded a half million New Zealand dollar ransom ($438,000) was sent to prison Tuesday for nine years.
Deng Deqiong, 26, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and unlawfully carrying off Cina Ma from the sidewalk outside her home as she rode her bike with friends last July in the northern city of Auckland.
The court heard Deng planned the kidnapping carefully, holding the child for five days before police found her locked in a wardrobe in a vacant house.
He bound her arms and wrists and left her with bread, water and a bucket to use as a toilet. Deng visited her once or twice a day as he pursued his ransom demand.
On the second day of the kidnapping he gagged the girl when he heard her crying.
Deng, who owed NZ$1 million on two houses and NZ$200,000 to his parents in China, knew the girl's parents, who also worked in real estate.
High Court Justice Judith Potter said the kidnapping was a cowardly and cruel act that had caused the victim post-traumatic stress disorder and hugely impacted her family, prompting them to leave New Zealand.
She ordered Deng to serve a minimum non-parole period of five years, six months. New Zealand sentencing takes good behaviour into account, making Deng eligible for parole after three years, as a prisoner normally serves one-third of the actual court sentence.
The abduction occurred just two weeks after about 10,000 Asian New Zealanders protested against rising violence against their community in Auckland, the country's largest city and the home of most ethnic Asians.
Under New Zealand law, Deng likely will be deported to China immediately after completing his prison term. -- AP
