Registered sex offender arrested on attempted kidnapping charge
RANDOLPH COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) – A registered sex offender in Ridgeville has been arrested for trying to lure a 13-year-old girl into his vehicle, according to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department.
Randolph County Sheriff’s Department Captain Tom Pullins said 54-year-old Daniel Leroy Dewitt Jr. was questioned by police after the mother of a 13-year-old girl called police Sunday.
Pullins said the girl’s mother said her daughter described a bearded man in a white-colored vehicle try to get the girl into his vehicle and go home with him.
Pullins said police from the Ridgeville Police Department were familiar with a registered sex offender who matched the description.
Police interviewed both the teenager and Dewitt about the incident.
Pullins said Dewitt admitted in an interview to approaching the girl because she had a dog. Dewitt explained to police he had a sibling of that dog and wanted to know if the girl would like to go see it. Pullins said the girl repeatedly told Dewitt she didn’t want to go but he continued to insist.
Dewitt told police the dog was at his home.
The girl eventually left the area and told her mother about the encounter with Dewitt.
Dewitt was initially charged with attempted kidnapping, after speaking with police.
Dewitt is on the sex offender registry for a 2000 conviction in Henry County for incest with a 13-year-old girl, according to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department.
