2 Get Prison in Case of Abduction of Girl, 7 - Los Angeles Times
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2 Get Prison in Case of Abduction of Girl, 7

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From Times Wire Reports

Two men were handed prison sentences ranging up to 49 years in the kidnapping of a 7-year-old girl who chewed through duct tape to escape a squalid basement last summer.

Edward Johnson, 24, who snatched Erica Pratt from the sidewalk outside her grandmother’s Philadelphia home, was sentenced to 10 to 37 years behind bars, while getaway driver James Burns, 30, got 14 1/2 to 49 years.

Erica was hailed as a spunky survivor last July when she chewed through the duct tape at her wrists, slipped out of the basement where she had been held for nearly 24 hours, and shouted for help. Two children heard her, pulled out a window screen and lifted her to safety.

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