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Long-term offender charged Man arrested after girl's abduction went to prison for six years for molesting children aged 2 to 8 Ben Gelinas, with files from Gordon Kent, The Edmonton Journal Published: 1:31 am EDMONTON - A long-term offender who was sent to prison in 2002 and was still under mandatory supervision for molesting six children was charged Monday with drugging and sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl abducted in Edmonton on the weekend. Police allege the man kidnapped the girl Sunday while she played with her brothers, ages five and nine, in front of their Belmont home. Danial Todd Gratton, 44, was arrested Monday shortly before 5 a.m., in a house just a few blocks from the Belmont Elementary School grounds where the girl was abducted. He was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, kidnapping and abduction of a person under 14. Police seized a blue Jeep Liberty with a licence plate similar to the description of the one reportedly seen on the vehicle the girl was lured into. When he was arrested in December 2000, Gratton admitted to police that he had repeatedly abused five girls and a boy between 1996 and 2000, including one child he admitted assaulting at least 70 times over a six-month period. The children ranged in age from two to eight. Gratton was sentenced in 2002 to six years in prison and declared a long-term offender. In a tearful police interview, he asked officers to protect him from his sickness because he couldn't stop himself, his lawyer, Peter Royal, said at the sentencing. Royal said at the time his client wanted treatment to help him deal with sexual fantasies that will never go away. Gratton was banned from public places where children gather and placed on a supervision order for 10 years after his release. It's not known when he was released from prison. On Sunday, a seven-year-old was lured into a vehicle by a man who told her he had kittens for sale, police allege. The girl's mother was in their townhouse across the street when her daughter was driven away. The girl's father said her brothers ran home in a panic. An Amber Alert was issued and police searched for a blue Jeep Liberty with a licence plate ending in 179. The girl appeared calm when she was dropped off four hours later at a restaurant in Wildwood, about 120 kilometres west of Edmonton. Sandy Wu was in the restaurant kitchen and said the girl was carrying $10 and a note that read: "I'm dropped off from Edmonton. Please bring me home safe." Wu said the girl told her she had been with "Daddy's friend." But her father said Monday his daughter did not know the man who picked her up at the schoolyard. "How could anybody hurt a child?" her father said, after learning that sexual assault charges had been laid. "I guess there's going to be a trial now. I hope he'll get his." When the girl was reunited with her parents Sunday night, her father said she seemed groggy. Police later told him they performed a drug test as part of their investigation. "She said she slept most of the way in the vehicle," said Evansburg RCMP Const. Doug Lee, who recovered the girl in Wildwood. Gratton was also charged with administering a noxious substance. He is in custody awaiting a bail hearing. The neighbourhood where the seven-year-old girl was abducted is a few blocks from the Hermitage area, where Gratton was arrested. The area has several schools, a playground and a park. "To the other families out there: watch your children," the victim's father said. "Guard them. Have eyes in the back of your head." bgelinas@thejournal.canwest.com