An Indiana man learned on Monday that he will serve the next 11 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of kidnapping an 11-year-old boy with autism from Marion.
A judge sentenced Bradford Deem to 11 to 16.5 years in jail.
Darica Ostrander, the boy’s mother, attended the sentencing hearing.There are so many unresolved questions that I’m not sure I’ll ever know the answers to,” Ostrander added. “Because my son does not have the ability to tell me, and the monster who stole him will never admit what he did was wrong.”
According to the Marion County prosecutor, Deem attempted to contact the child via a video gaming console. Prosecutors claim Deem had a year-long online relationship with the youngster before driving to Marion in July 2025 to pick him up and return him to Indiana.”We’ll have to deal with this for the rest of our lives,” Ostrander added. “My son is autistic, and it is never going to get better. We’ll probably never recover from this. We’ll just have to move on and figure out how to deal with it.”
Although the youngster was recovered the same day, his family’s response to the tragedy has altered their approach to monitoring his online behavior.”He still plays his PlayStation because he has a disability and it is his safe haven,” Ostrander explained. “However, who he talks to is watched. If he’s wearing a headset, someone is always listening or knows who he’s speaking to. We keep track of the conversations. “We keep an eye on the application.”
When asked if he wanted to make a statement at his sentencing, Deem replied, “I’m not sure what to say.” He then turned to his attorney, who told him not to make any comments since they planned to file an appeal.
Leave a Comment