A Michigan man will spend the next two decades in prison for driving to Iowa after contacting a 12-year-old Waterloo girl on Snapchat, then taking her back across state lines in a case that triggered an Amber Alert this spring. Daniyal Khan was sentenced to 20 years following his conviction on multiple charges tied to the April abduction, which ended with the girl found safe in Michigan roughly an hour after the alert went out.
According to cbs2iowa.com, a jury convicted Khan of driving to Iowa from Wisconsin after talking to the 12-year-old on Snapchat. Prosecutors said he waited outside her home, then picked her up and drove back to Michigan. The girl was later found and returned to her home in Iowa, the station reported.
How the Amber Alert Unfolded
The case began on April 5, when the Waterloo Police Department requested that the State of Iowa issue an Amber Alert for a missing 12-year-old from Waterloo. Within roughly an hour, Waterloo detectives learned that the suspect vehicle had been located by law enforcement in Coloma Township, Michigan, and that the child was safe with officers there, the department said.
A jury later found Khan guilty of false imprisonment, enticing a minor under the age of 13, child stealing, grooming, sexual exploitation of a minor, and indecent contact with a child, per who13.com. Those convictions led to Khan receiving a 20-year sentence; he must register as a sex offender and was ordered to pay $430 in fines, as well as civil penalties, per the same cbs2iowa.com report.
Family Describes Lasting Fear
In court, Khan asked for a deferred sentence and told the judge, “I truly apologize to the victim and to the family,” according to the station's report. The girl's father pushed back on that expression of remorse, saying Khan had shown none until the apology and that he contradicted himself, lied, and shifted blame during closing arguments.
The girl's mother told the outlet that the family, which has raised five children in the home, no longer feels safe there. She said she constantly looks over her shoulder and that knowing people are aware of the family's address makes her uncomfortable. Iowa's News Now also reported on the sentencing, noting the same 20-year term and fines.
A Broader Spike in Online Enticement Cases
Khan's case fits into a pattern tracked nationally by child-safety investigators. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported that its CyberTipline received 1.4 million reports concerning online enticement in 2025, a 158% increase in such reports from 2024. Child sex trafficking reports rose 323% over the same period, according to the organization's data.
Of those enticement reports, more than 800 involved an offender traveling to meet a child in person, the center found. NCMEC also said it identified and escalated more than 53,000 reports in 2025 that were urgent or involved a child in imminent danger.
The Waterloo Police Department has emphasized in its public statements that a criminal charge or warrant is only an accusation, and that defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty — a standard that applied to Khan throughout his trial before the jury returned its guilty verdicts.
