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Accused kidnapper says he doesn't remember snatching Wilmington girl

A Wilmington man said Tuesday that he doesn't recall kidnapping a 6-year-old Wilmington girl from outside her home a year ago.

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Douglas Edwards
WILMINGTON, N.C. — A Wilmington man said Tuesday that he doesn't recall kidnapping a 6-year-old Wilmington girl from outside her home a year ago.

Douglas Nelson Edwards, a registered sex offender, faces charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious bodily injury and various child sex offenses in the September 2016 incident.

The girl, now 7, testified Monday that Edwards took her into some woods, kissed her on the mouth, put a chain around her neck and sexually assaulted her.

Edwards told jurors he left work on a construction site early because he didn't feel well and doesn't remember anything after that, according to WECT.

"The next thing I remember is being in a neighborhood I had never been in before and there was a girl on my moped," he testified. "It scared me that I had a kid on my moped and I didn't know where she came from."

He denied assaulting the girl, saying he only kissed her forehead to calm her and chained her to a tree for her safety. He then went to his mother's home to figure out what to do, he said, adding that he always planned to release the girl.

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