(ALBANY, N.Y.) — An upstate New York man previously charged with having child pornography cut an electronic monitoring device off his ankle before carjacking a woman, fatally stabbing her and raping her 10-year-old daughter, authorities said.
David J. Renz, 29, abducted a school librarian and her daughter as they left a gymnastics class at a mall in the Syracuse suburb of Clay at about 9 p.m. Thursday, state police said Friday.
Troopers said he bound both victims, raped the child and drove a short distance to a spot where the girl managed to escape and was found by a passing motorist.
The motorist told 911 dispatchers he saw a man running away from the scene, allowing police to quickly send in officers on the ground and a sheriff’s helicopter in the air. Renz was caught a short time later near a wooded area.
It wasn’t clear how the girl escaped or when her mother was killed.
“We’re still trying to piece the timeline together,” said Trooper Jack Keller.
The child was being treated at a hospital Friday. Her mother died from multiple stab wounds.
Renz had been charged in January with possession of child pornography and allowed to remain free under terms that included staying off the Internet and away from places including
schools, parks and arcades. Federal authorities said he cut his electronic monitoring device off his ankle shortly before Thursday’s attacks.
He was arraigned Friday morning on murder, rape and kidnapping charges. Ken Moynihan, the lawyer assigned to his case, didn’t initially return a call seeking comment. Renz was being held without bail.
The Associated Press doesn’t publish information that could identify potential sex-crime victims and isn’t naming the woman to protect the child’s identity.
According to an FBI criminal complaint, agents who went to the North Syracuse apartment where Renz was living in June found four computers in his bedroom that he told them he used to view adult pornography.
Agent Alix Skelton said Renz eventually admitted using the Internet for the past six years to download child porn to a drive on one of the machines, which he turned over to the agents. Technicians determined in November that it had an encrypted hard drive and Skelton said Renz provided the encryption key. Agents reviewing the drive in December found about 100 gigabytes of child porn comprising more than 500 videos and more than 3,000 images, according to the complaint.
Among the images were two showing sex acts involving prepubescent girls, said Skelton, a member of a unit that targets people involved in online exploitation of children.
Renz was charged on Jan. 9 in federal court with possession of child pornography. On Jan. 29, a judge granted a prosecutor’s request for an extension of the time required for grand jury action so investigators could continue going over “numerous items of electric media” for additional evidence.
Renz, who authorities said had no prior police record, was released after agreeing to stay at home at night with an electronic monitor and away from any place he might encounter people under the age of 18.
Renz removed the monitor, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan told The Associated Press. He said federal probation officials were investigating what happened, including whether Renz was able to get around an alert that is supposed to go off if the ankle bracelet is removed.
James Greenwald, the federal public defenders lawyer assigned to Renz in the child porn case, did not return a call for comment Friday.
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