The State : Child-Stealer Gets 4 Years

An Apple Valley man, Patrick Michael McCleery, 40, was sentenced to four years in state prison for felony child stealing, according to San Bernardino County court officials. The charge grew out of a bizarre case involving a 17-year-old Northern California boy whom McCleery admitted abducting four years ago. Acting on a tip last month, sheriff’s detectives found the boy in McCleery’s trailer home in the remote desert area 75 miles north of Los Angeles. McCleery pleaded guilty and surprised court officials by asking to be sentenced immediately to the maximum term, officials said. Judge Donald Egan granted the request and remanded him to the custody of the sheriff.