Warning: This story deals with child sex abuse.
A U.S. man is facing decades in prison after admitting to abducting an Edmonton girl, smuggling her across the border and sexually abusing her.
Noah Madrano was in a Portland, Ore., courtroom Monday to plead guilty to kidnapping and molesting a 13-year-old girl who disappeared from her Edmonton home for a week in the summer of 2022.
Madrano — who faced six U.S. federal charges — pleaded guilty to two felonies before Senior United States District Judge Michael Mosman: sexual exploitation of a child, and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The first carries a sentence of 15-30 years, while the second ranges between 10 years and life in prison.
Madrano, a 43-year-old podcast host, was arrested by FBI agents on July 2, 2022, in an Oregon City hotel room where he had taken the girl after smuggling her across the Canada-U.S. border.
According to the plea agreement, Madrano admitted to meeting the victim online and engaging in a sexual relationship with her for a year. The girl sent Madrano sexual images of herself during that time — some of which Madrano posted on his public social media accounts.
Madrano travelled from Oregon to Edmonton on May 31, 2022, where he met the victim and directed her to perform sex acts on him in a hotel. He told her to state her age in the video, which he later brought back to Oregon and edited to create multiple versions.
In at least one of those videos, “he superimposed text … stating that the victim was 13 years old,” the plea agreement states.
Madrano returned to Edmonton on June 24, 2022, and picked up the girl outside her middle school. Over the next seven days, he hid the girl in a hotel room and “repeatedly” sexually abused her. On July 1, 2022, he concealed the girl in the rear cargo space of his car and took her across the U.S.-Canada border in British Columbia.
Madrano returned to Oregon City, where he again took the girl to a hotel to sexually abuse her. Law enforcement located the two and raided the hotel on July 2, 2022, after which the girl was returned to her family.
Madrano was charged with a variety of kidnapping, rape, and sexual abuse charges at the state level, as well as the federal charges dealt with Monday. Edmonton police officials earlier said Madrano could face charges in Canada after the conclusion of his U.S. cases.
‘Litany of horrific crimes’
Madrano remained in custody at the federal lockup in Sheridan, Ore., after a judge denied him bail. He spoke Monday only to confirm he understood the details and consequences of his plea. The hearing lasted around 15 minutes.
In addition to the sexual abuse, Madrano was earlier accused by state attorneys of using the Edmonton girl’s voice in his podcast on Portland community radio station KBOO. Prosecutors claimed he recorded a “political satire” skit in which he claims to have obtained an audio recording of Florida Republican representative and failed justice department nominee Matt Gaetz “having phone sex with an underage girl.”
The hosts laugh and then play a two-minute-and-25-second recording in which a man believed to be Madrano has a sexually explicit conversation with a young girl. The podcast was uploaded 11 days before the victim’s disappearance and subsequently deleted. It was not mentioned in the plea agreement.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 8. Madrano also agreed to pay $20,000 in restitution and must register as a sex offender.
The victim’s mother, who Postmedia is not naming to protect the girl’s identity, is pleased Madrano decided to plead guilty.
“It’s been a long time coming for us,” she said. “He’s finally taking responsibility for the litany of horrific crimes that he’s subjected our daughter to. We’re just glad she doesn’t have to take the stand during trial and she doesn’t have to be re-victimized by having to recount the egregious abuse she suffered at his hands.”
The girl is doing well, all things considered, but she does not have many of the freedoms enjoyed by other teens and will be dealing with the fallout of the abuse for the rest of her life, her mom said.
“Our lives are forever changed, but she’s resilient and she’s strong.”
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