A truck driver from New York has pleaded guilty to a federal kidnapping charge in the abduction of an 8-year-old girl from a western Nebraska truck stop, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
In exchange, the federal prosecutor will drop a charge of transporting a minor across state lines for William Buckner, 46, according to the plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Lincoln. The deal was reached in November but it was not filed with the court until Wednesday. Buckner is from Shortsville in Ontario County.
Authorities said the girl was abducted June 24 while her family was at the Bosselman Travel Center at the Interstate 80 interchange at Big Springs and taken into nearby Colorado. The Nebraska State Patrol said Buckner was arrested when he and the girl returned to the truck stop a short time later.
Buckner admitted that he sexually assaulted the girl while in Colorado, according to the plea agreement.
Under the deal, prosecutors will recommend a 20-year sentence for Buckner, of Shortsville, N.Y. He faces a maximum of life in prison when he's sentenced April 14.
State charges against Buckner were dropped this past summer after consultation with the federal prosecutor.
