A man sexually assaulted a RI 12-year-old and tried to have her killed, police say
Prosecutors say a 28-year-old registered sex offender tried hiring somebody to kill a 12-year-old girl he's accused of sexually assaulting.
Chandler J. Cardente was talking on a telephone from the state's prison when he offered $200 in cash and equipment worth an additional $1,500 to have the child "end up dead" because she was "a witness," prosecutors said in a press release.
Cardente was indicted Wednesday on charges of enticement of a minor; committing a felony offense involving a minor while being a registered sex offender; and interstate murder-for-hire, U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced.
More: Registered sex offender charged with enticing Burrillville girl to run away from school
Cardente was arrested in December after police say he lured the 12-year-old girl to run away from Burrillville Middle School. Burrillville Police Chief Col. Stephen Lynch previously told The Journal that Cardente had posed as a 17-year-old while communicating online with the girl.
On Dec. 10, when classes ended, the girl crossed a soccer field, passed through some woods and willingly got into Cardente's car on Route 102, Lynch said at the time.
After learning the girl was missing, officers checking social media and the girl's cell phone discovered she was with Cardente, Lynch said. When Cardente found out that the police were looking for him, he threw the girl out of the car on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick, Lynch said. The Warwick police found her curled up on the side of the road, he said.
The Cranston police later found Cardente and arrested him.
The indictment alleges that, beginning on Dec. 3, 2021, Cardente communicated repeatedly with the girl via social media before having sexual contact with her on Dec. 10, 2021, prosecutors said.
Cardente, still being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, is scheduled to be brought to U.S. District, Providence, Monday morning for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations; the Burrillville, Warwick, and Cranston police departments; Rhode Island State Police; and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections Special Investigations Unit.
jperry@providencejournal.com
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On Twitter: @jgregoryperry
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Man indicted on murder-for-hire for trying to kill 12-year-old witness
