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Hampton man at center of recent AMBER Alert sentenced for child neglect

Timothy Truitt
Posted at 6:50 PM, Feb 02, 2023
and last updated 2023-02-03 05:55:01-05

NORFOLK, Va. — A Hampton man who was the subject of an AMBER Alert last fall was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday in Burleigh County, North Dakota.

Last October, the Hampton Police Division reported that Timothy Truitt, 36, had led two young children from their legal guardian at a Walmart store on Cunningham Drive. Just over a day later, Virginia State Police issued an AMBER Alert for the two children.

Authorities in North Dakota stopped Truitt, the children, and two other adults in a vehicle traveling west on I-94 after a deputy noticed it matched the alert description. Court paperwork indicated a possible destination of Washington State.

The children were wearing only soiled diapers, and Truitt was found attempting to hide under a child's blanket, an arrest affidavit said.

On Thursday afternoon, he was sentenced to five years in North Dakota state prison for felony child neglect, along with time served on a misdemeanor charge of providing a false name to law enforcement.

Truitt, who was already a registered sex offender following a 2017 incest conviction in North Carolina, still has an active warrant out of Hampton for unauthorized use of a vehicle, according to a police warrant database. It's not yet clear when he'll face a Hampton judge on that charge.