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Kidnap suspect faces more charges

A Red Deer man charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teenage girl faces more charges.

A Red Deer man charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teenage girl faces more charges.

Gerard Baumgarte, 56, faces six new charges, bringing the total number against him to 12. Those charges include sexual assault causing bodily harm, unlawful confinement, impersonating a peace officer and various firearms offences.

He also faces kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault charges.

Baumgarte will make his next court appearance on June 26 in person so the re-drafted charges can be read to him.

He hasn’t appeared at his most recent court dates since his lawyer Patty MacNaughton filed a designation of counsel form that permits the accused from appearing.

He’s expected to enter an election and plea and set a date for a preliminary inquiry to determine if his case has enough evidence to be tried in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench.

Baumgarte was charged following the disappearance of a 16-year-old Penhold girl, who vanished for nearly two days after she was alleged to have been kidnapped on Feb. 26.

Police say the girl was taken just outside her residence by a man dressed in a police uniform and his car was complete with flashing blue-and-red lights.

The girl, who can’t be named because she is the alleged victim of a sexual assault and is a minor, was taken after she had just bought some items from a Penhold store.

The girl, who escaped from her captor, called her parents from the Bower Place Shopping Centre in Red Deer the evening of Feb. 28.

The suspect was arrested the next day. Baumgarte remains in custody.

jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com