ROSWELL, Ga. — A Roswell mother is warning other parents after she says a known sex offender went after her daughter at her bus stop.
William Howard, 71, was arrested earlier this week after police said he tried to lure an 11-year-old girl into his car when she got off the school bus.
The girl’s mother says she saw the whole thing happen and that her daughter was smart enough not to get in the man’s car.
“He was there, asking her if she wanted a ride home. How was the dog? And by the grace of God, I pulled up at the same time and she was like, ‘No, I don’t need a ride. My mom is here,’” the girl’s mother said.
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She spoke with Channel 2′s Elizabeth Rawlins over the phone, but didn’t want to be identified.
The mother said that the man’s strange behavior prompted her to search the sex offender registry and learn he was a known sex offender in Florida.
Police said Howard is a registered sex offender from Florida who was previously convicted in 2011 of lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim 12 to 15 years old.
“It’s wild. It’s like, wow, am I that naïve to know that there’s somebody around that could hurt my kid,” she said.
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Police say Howard has only lived in the complex for a few months and until now has been in compliance with Georgia’s sex offender laws and was registered with the state.
“We certainly would be interested in anyone who has had previous contact with this individual as we continue to flush out this investigation,” Roswell Police Officer Tim Lupo said.
Police say Howard was also convicted of molesting a child between the ages of 12 to 15 in Florida in 2019.
The Roswell mother says police told her that child was approached in the same way her daughter was.
Investigators do not believe Howard ever made physical contact with any children in the area.
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“That mother and child did exactly what we would want them to do in this case. The child did not accept that offer and immediately told an adult, and the adult immediately took action based upon that information,” Ofc. Lupo said.
“If I had not trusted my gut and realized something was off, who knows what would have happened?” the mother said.
Howard is being held in the Fulton County Jail.
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