Maple Grove Man Charged with Sexually Assaulting Zimmerman Girl

(Learfield News/Elk River, MN) — A Maple Grove man is now charged with the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of a seven-year-old girl in Zimmerman that prompted an Amber Alert.

Prosecutors say 28-year-old Joseph Bragg abducted the girl on Wednesday after she got off the school bus.

Police learned that Bragg was driving a rental truck toward Iowa on Interstate 35.

Officers spotted the vehicle at a truck stop in Albert Lea and located the girl in the backseat.

Court records show Bragg initially brought the victim to a hotel in Plymouth.

The girl told investigators that he sexually assaulted her.