Wichita sex offender who abducted, forced girl playing hide-and-seek into shed is sentenced
A registered sex offender who abducted and tried to sexually molest an 8-year-old girl in broad daylight on May 5, 2019, has been ordered to serve life in prison. Daniel Withrow, 43, of Wichita, will be eligible for parole after more than 46 years, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
Sedgwick County District Judge Christopher Magana sentenced Withrow late Friday afternoon on one count of kidnapping and one count of attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child for snatching the girl while she played a game of hide-and-seek with her young cousin outside of the White Glove Inn motel, 11430 W. Kellogg, near 119th.
Withrow, a lawn maintenance care subcontractor and a stranger to the girl, was mowing a neighboring cemetery when he spotted the children playing around noon. The girl had been living at the motel with her mom, Wichita police have said.
Authorities say he approached and forced the girl into a storage shed, where he put his hand up her shirt and tried to yank down her pants — an account Withrow has denied. Her screams eventually scared him off, police have said.
Jurors convicted Withrow of the charges in May 2022. He was previously convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child in a 1999 Reno County case.
