Kearney teenager convicted in Grand Island kidnapping case

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - One of the suspects in the January kidnapping of three small children in Grand Island will be sentenced in October for kidnapping and child abuse.

Tate Wolfe, 18, Kearney, pleaded no contest and was convicted of nine felonies related to the incident that put three small children in danger. Court records show those crimes include three counts of kidnapping, three counts of child abuse, and one count each of theft by unlawful taking, theft by receiving stolen property, and operation of motor vehicle to avoid arrest (willfully reckless).

A judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for Wolfe Oct. 26.

Wolfe and Jozef McAllister, 18, of Hastings, were arrested Jan. 29 for stealing a car containing three Grand Island children ages 5, 1, and seven months old. The two older children were discovered later that morning in an abandoned pickup. The 7-month-old was found about two-and-half hours later on the deck of a farm house in rural Hall County. The temperature at the time was 0°F with a -19° wind chill.

McAllister faces an identical set of charges in the case. He had requested that his trial be transferred to juvenile court, but a judge denied that request. He is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 2.

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