JOPLIN, Mo. — A Joplin man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for helping a 13-year-old Arkansas girl run away from home.
James A. Morey, 34, was sentenced Monday for kidnapping under a plea agreement he entered in July that limited his prison time to no more than 10 years.
Morey was arrested Nov. 2 after Joplin police found the girl from Pea Ridge at his apartment in Joplin. Police say Morey picked her up at her school in Arkansas that day and took her back to Joplin. Her mother called police when the girl didn't come home.
The Joplin Globe reported that Morey told police he and the girl met on Twitter and had been communicating for about three months before she decided to run away from home.