Federal grand jury indicts G.I. kidnapping suspect

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KSNB) - The man arrested last month in Grand Island for kidnapping a Utah boy faces federal charges after a grand jury indictment.

According to officials, 26-year-old Tadashi Kojima of Tuscon, Ariz., is charged in federal court in Utah with kidnapping and transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Grand Island Police arrested Kojima Dec. 28 after officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle at a gas station just before 2 a.m. Officers found a child and adult sitting inside a white Toyota Avalon at the Git N Split near the Grand Island Regional Medical Center. Officers were advised that the boy was an abducted child from Utah who was likely with a stranger he met on the internet.

According to an arrest affidavit, the boy’s father told police in Layton, Utah that his son had been communicating with someone while playing Roblox and then was invited to talk on a chatroom service. Hall County court documents indicate the teen went missing Dec. 26 and was believed to be with the suspect that he had been talking to online as well as through texts and Facetime. The affidavit states that the two had arranged to meet and that Kojima picked up the boy in his car. Several phone number PING’s, warrants and emergency disclosures were made regarding the pair. Eventually, he was located in Grand Island thanks to a concerned individual.

Kojima is charged in Hall County with kidnapping and resisting arrest. A Hall County judge yesterday set a preliminary hearing in Grand Island for Kojima for February 16.

Kojima also has aliases as Aaron Zeman and Hunter Fox.

For now, Kojima remains in the Hall County jail on 10% of $1 million bond.

Federal court documents did not list a future court date for Kojima in Salt Lake City.

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