Sex offender tries to lure Lehigh Acres kids with treats, deputies say

Reporter: Gina Tomlinson
Published: Updated:
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sexual Offenders and Predators Search. Screenshot via WINK News.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sexual Offenders and Predators Search. Screenshot via WINK News.

A creepy encounter in Lehigh Acres has parents keeping their children close Wednesday night. A group of kids told Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies a man tried to lure them into his home and they identified him from the Florida sex offender registry.

Jordan Swain told WINK News he is too old to be afraid of the boogie man nowadays, but hearing about a creepy encounter right on his street is unsettling.

A Dollar Store is nearby his home where kids were on their way home from when a stranger confronted them. A LCSO arrest report said the man tried to lure the kids by offering them cookies and candy. Bernadette Hill said it happened hoses away from hers.

”It’s definitely always a concern,” Hill said, “because kids trust anybody.”

The kids got scared and ran home to inform their parents. After the frightening situation, a parent started searching the FDLE website. Even scarier, the kids pointed out the stranger who came up under a sex offender list.

”It doesn’t surprise me that somebody that committed a crime before would be likely to commit that crime again,” Hill said.

Kids are on the alert and neighbors are watching.

”To always have an adult around me,” said Jordan Swain, 11 years old. “That I know.”

“They always say it takes a village to raise a child,” Hill said. “Look after the kids on your street.”

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