From Bay City News:
A former Nebraska man was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in state prison for sexually abusing a 13-year-old Pleasanton girl during a seven-month period in 2010.
Todd Tackwell, 37, met the girl through an Internet chat room in October 2009 while he was still living in Nebraska, according to Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Chris Infante.
The two communicated almost daily until January 2010, when he moved to the Bay Area, Infante said.
Tackwell didn't have a job or a home and didn't know anyone in the Bay Area except for the girl. His sexual contact with the girl began immediately and occurred at her home without her parents' knowledge, Infante said.
Tackwell entered the girl's bedroom through a window almost nightly, according to Infante.
The sexual contact continued until July 23, 2010, when Pleasanton police Officer Matthew Kroutil stopped Tackwell's pickup truck because it had a cracked front windshield. The girl was in the passenger seat.
Kroutil suspected something was amiss and asked Tackwell and the girl some questions and eventually separated them after the girl gave evasive answers, Infante said.
During the next several days the girl revealed she had been in a sexual relationship with Tackwell for many months and disclosed how she had met him, according to Infante.
The prosecutor said the community "owes a huge debt of gratitude" to Kroutil for aggressively acting on his suspicion that something was wrong between Tackwell and the girl and "asking the important questions right off the bat."
After Tackwell was arrested, a woman from Lincoln, Neb., came forward and alleged that she had been the victim of similar conduct by Tackwell for two years when she was 14 and 15 years old. The woman flew to the Bay Area from Nebraska and testified at Tackwell's trial in Alameda County Superior Court.
The Nebraska woman wrote a letter to Judge Michael Gaffey, who presided over Tackwell's case, urging him to impose a harsh sentence on Tackwell.
At Friday's hearing, the Pleasanton's girl's parents also called for a stiff sentence and called Tackwell a menace to society.
Tackwell's attorney, Rozlynn Silvaggio, couldn't be reached for comment.
