BRIGHTON, Colo. — A man who pleaded guilty in the 2022 kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl in Thornton will spend nearly a decade in prison for the crime, a spokesperson for the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
Diego Gettler, 30, was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in the Colorado Department of Corrections for the kidnapping that occurred outside STEM Launch in Thornton.
On the morning of Sept. 23, 2022, Gettler, dressed in all black and wearing a mask, approached the young victim shortly after she was dropped off at school. Prosecutors said he forcibly grabbed the girl and attempted to restrain her in what appeared to be an attempted abduction, but the girl fought back, pulling the mask he was wearing, which caused him to flee . The girl quickly ran to the school doors for help and staff quickly responded.
Surveillance footage from the school and surrounding areas captured critical moments before, during, and after the attack, prosecutors said…