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Man Pleads Guilty To Kidnapping His Kids And Taking Them Away In Stolen Yacht

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (AP) — A South San Francisco man is facing up to four years and four months in jail after pleading no contest to charges that he kidnapped his two children and took them away on a stolen yacht.

Forty-three-year-old Christopher Maffei entered the plea Friday in a San Mateo County courtroom on one count of child abduction and one count of possession of a stolen boat.

He is scheduled to be sentenced June 7.

Authorities say Maffei kidnapped his 3-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son from their mother's South San Francisco home Sept. 4. They say he then took them on a 41-foot yacht he stole from an Alameda marina.

Authorities say Maffei and the children spent three days on the water before the Coast Guard intercepted the vessel off Monterey County. The children were not hurt.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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