Six months after police arrested a man for trying to kidnap a 13-year-old girl who was walking her dog in Homestead, he walked out of court on Friday avoiding any prison time for his actions.
Michael Luprecio was initially charged with attempting to kidnap Candice Ramirez and for touching her inappropriately. Video surveillance captured the moment.
"I pushed him. I screamed at him and pushed him and told him, what’s your problem," Ramirez said in a previous interview with NBC6
Luprecio was denied bond after his arrest but was released to undergo cancer treatment.
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On Friday, he appeared in court to accept a plea deal the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Officer offered him.
Luprecio pleaded guilty to an attempted kidnapping charge, but state attorneys dropped a lewd and lascivious charge.
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The 43-year-old was sentenced to two years of house arrest, eight years of probation, mental health evaluation and treatment if necessary. He was ordered to stay away from Ramirez and he is not allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors.
NBC6 asked Ramirez’s mother about the deal and she stated there was nothing she could do about it.
“That is how the law decided it to be,” Maria Perez said.
Perez told NBC6 her daughter doesn’t trust anyone and she has been traumatized by the incident.
“We battle every day hoping she recovers,” she added.
After he accepted the deal, Luprecio cursed at NBC6 crews when he was questioned about the proceeding.
“He’s not a dangerous guy. He’s a good guy,” said Eric Matheny, Luprecio’s attorney, who told NBC6 the incident was “a big misunderstanding, and I think everyone wants to move on with their life and put this issue behind them.”
Luprecio will need to wear a GPS monitor and will be allowed to leave his home for cancer treatment.
