BOONE COUNTY SHERIFF
MICHAEL A. HELMIG
P.O. BOX 198
BURLINGTON, KY. 41005-0198
Phone: 859-334-2175
FAX: 859-334-2234
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Tom Scheben, Spokesman
Public Information Services
859.334.3543
tscheben@boonecountyky.org
December 18, 2009
On Thursday, December 17, 2009 at approximately 1:30 p.m. a Cincinnati, Ohio man was arrested for attempting to remove a thirteen (13) year old girl from the school she was attending.
School Resource Officer Kerry Curry arrested Eric Sears, 20 of the 500 block of Elberon Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio charging him with Unlawful possession of a weapon on school property, Custodial interference, Theft of identity of another without consent, Possession of marijuana, and Possession of drug paraphernalia after he persistently tried to have school officials release the 7th grader to him in a plan the two concocted within the last month. Sears is being held in the Boone County Detention Center in lieu of a $25,000 bond.
Curry attributes the quick–thinking receptionist at Conner Middle School with foiling the plan. Sears showed up at the school at approximately 10:15 a.m. presenting himself as the girl’s uncle, telling the receptionist the girl’s mother had been involved in a serious automobile accident and he was there to pick her up. When he was turned down, Sears went to an adjacent business and – using their business phone – called the school identifying himself as an uncle who is actually listed as an emergency contact telling them to release the girl to Sears. Smelling a rat, the receptionist notified Curry who stopped Sears as he was approaching school property the second time. Curry’s subsequent investigation determined the two had met on a telephone chat line approximately one month earlier. After numerous phone calls and text messages the pair planned on running away together.
Sheriff Michael A. Helmig said, ‘this is just another example of how the collaborative effort between the schools and the Sheriff’s Department works to keep our children safe.’ Helmig reminds parents to be nosy when it comes to their children’s communications encouraging them to actually check the messages and numbers dialed.
###
