Man arrested for abducting, sexually assaulting girl on her way to school in Prince William County

Prince William County police have arrested a man suspected of abducting and sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl who was walking to school along with attacking a woman who tried to stop him.

Officials say Adam-Seth Nathaneal Walter has been charged with abduction with intent to defile, rape, sodomy, aggravated sexual battery and indecent liberties in connection with the juvenile victim.

The 26-year-old suspect is also facing additional charges of abduction, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, robbery, burglary with intent to commit larceny, malicious wounding and possession of a firearm by a convicted violent felon related to the attack on the 34-year-old woman.

Officers responded to the 14200 block of Essex Drive in Woodbridge after the abduction was reported at around 8:14 a.m. Tuesday, according to police. The suspect, who claimed he had a weapon, grabbed the girl and then forced his way into a nearby home where he assaulted the woman.

The woman who was attacked, Leticia Aguilar, saw what happened to the girl while she was in front of her home. She spoke out about the incident after she returned home from the hospital Tuesday afternoon.

Showing the physical injuries of her black eyes and stitches, Aguilar said she knows the girl who was abducted. She first thought that the suspect was a family member of the child, but then realized the girl had been kidnapped.

"But then she got closer to me and she said, 'He has a gun. He has a gun,'" Aguilar said. "I tried getting away, and she told me, 'Don't do anything. He's going to kill us.' She didn't want to die and she told me to stay quiet."

"When they were walking over here, it's when he grabbed her phone and she tried to grab it back from him, and that is when he hit her in the face four times, she said, and then brought her inside," said Aguilar's son, Elder Espina. "When he threatened to kill her, that is when she started wrestling him and wrestled him all the way into her room, and then started yelling for me."

By the time Espina had come to help, the suspect left the home with the girl.

Investigators say he took the girl to a home off of Cumberland Drive where he sexually assaulted her in the backyard. Afterwards, he let her go and took off on foot. The child was later found by officers. She was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Police say forensic investigators were able to link Walter from evidence that was recovered from the scene.

Officers from the Prince William County police's Street Crimes Unit took Walter into custody without incident in the area while they were on an unrelated investigation, officials say.

This is not the first run-in with police for Walter. Back in Oct. 2012, he was arrested for felony possession of stolen goods for a burglary that occurred in Manassas.

Tuesday's incident put three nearby schools on lockdown. There was also extra security as schools were dismissing on Tuesday. Prince William County Public Schools sent a letter home to parents about what happened and says there will be extra patrols around the area Wednesday.