Gary Day was in a Dodge County courtroom Thursday for his preliminary hearing.
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Man accused of abducting Beaver Dam teen will stand trial
The man accused of abducting a Beaver Dam teen and getting her pregnant will stand trial.
The Dodge County judge made the decision during 40-year-old Gary Day's preliminary hearing Thursday morning.
Handcuffed and shackled, Day sat silently in court Thursday as the prosecution called upon Beaver Dam Det. Daniel Kunhz to lay out the evidence against the Arkansas native.
Investigators said Day abducted a 16-year-old girl twice: once last summer and again in February of this year. Doorbell video in February appears to show someone walking around the victim's Beaver Dam home.
"The video is not the greatest quality, but it appeared to be the defendant," Kunhz said.
Missing for two months, prosecutors said the two ended up out west, eventually making it to Oregon, where Day and the underage teen were allegedly intimate.
"To your knowledge, is the age of consent 18 in Oregon?" prosecutor Shawn Woller asked.
"Yes," Kunhz responded.
Day is charged with two counts of child enticement and two counts of child abduction.
Inside the courtroom for the first time, watching it all was the teen herself. Cameras are not allowed to record video of the viewing area inside a courtroom, but she was no more than 10 yards away from the man accused of abducting her.
She sat stoically as the defense drew attention to her possible willingness to go with Day last summer.
"Did she indicate she'd been kicked out of her house?" defense attorney Jacob Van Kerkvoorde asked.
"I believe that's a version of the information she gave us," Kunhz answered.
"And that she basically didn't have anywhere else to go at the time?" Van Kerkvoorde followed up.
"Yes," the detective responded.
"And that was why she had asked Mr. Day to come pick her up, is that correct?" the defense attorney asked.
"Correct," Kunhz said.
Judge Joseph Sciascia ultimately sided with the prosecution, determining the case could continue on to trial.
Day will be arraigned in June. He also faces federal charges in Arkansas.
The teen's parents accompanied her to court Thursday. They all left without commenting.
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