Adopted Child Abused; Man Extradited to Del.

MANTECA, Calif. - A man accused of repeatedly raping a girl he adopted from the Ukraine has agreed to be extradited to Delaware to face the charges.

Vladimir Karpov, 50, of Newark, Del., was arrested Tuesday at a hotel in Ripon, about 80 miles east of San Francisco, after a check of his car's license plate showed it was stolen. Police found he had a warrant for his arrest from Delaware on 50 counts of rape and a count of continual sexual abuse of a child.

Delaware police allege he began sexually abusing the girl shortly after adopting the then 7 year old during a 1999 trip to Ukraine.

Karpov pleaded no contest Friday in California to charges of possessing an unregistered firearm and the stolen license plate.

San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Brian Short reduced both counts to misdemeanors so Karpov could be extradited to face the child rape charges. San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Jose L. Alva immediately sentenced Karpov to three years of informal probation and fined him $130.

Alva also set Karpov's bail at $2 million pending his transportation to Delaware.

Karpov was found with $15,000, a loaded handgun, and documents in which he alleged he was being accused of crimes he did not commit.

But Delaware authorities say the girl told her Ukrainian family recently of the abuse during a visit to their New Jersey home. The family had immigrated to New Jersey two years ago from the Ukraine.

Karpov left Delaware a few weeks ago as police were preparing the criminal charges. 

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)