An elderly registered sex offender allegedly approached a mother and tried to buy her eight-year-old child for $100,000 in Florida, according to police.
“Hellmuth Kolb, 85, was booked Thursday evening into the Volusia County Branch Jail on a charge of violating his probation, which stems from his pleading no contest to charges of false imprisonment and battery in August 2019, records show,” the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported Friday.
According to the Port Orange Police Department, the suspect approached the woman inside a Winn-Dixie store on August 16 and asked how old the child was.
When she left the building, Kolb approached her again, saying he wanted to “make a deal” and would pay her $100,000 for the child, according to the arrest report.
“Due to the parent’s clear concern that someone was insistent on attempting to purchase their daughter in a grocery store, we were notified. Unfortunately for him, we were able to confirm through his Probation Officer that Mr. Kolb is currently on probation for similar issues, and he is not to have any contact with minor children,” Port Orange police explained in a social media post Friday:
Officers located Kolb sitting on a bench outside the store and inquired as to whether he offered to buy the child. Kolb reportedly laughed then told them, “We all like kids.”
The suspect pleaded no contest in 2019 regarding false imprisonment and battery charges.
Records showed he received five years probation. Those conditions stemmed from a similar incident in 2018 when he approached another woman and her eight-year-old daughter outside a Walmart and offered to buy the child, per law enforcement.
Following the most recent incident, video showed Kolb wearing handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit as he walked into court:
Meanwhile, the child’s mother, Lauren Benning, said the suspect had approached them in the parking lot.
“He actually ran us down and was screaming, ‘Hey! Hey! I’d like to make a deal with you. I would like to buy her for $100,000.’ And at that point I was just in shock that that was what he was actually saying to me,” she told WFTV.
In a social media post on Friday, Benning praised the officials who worked with her on the case.
“I am blown away by the support and urgency that was given to our concerns and followed through on this with the best possible result. I was given his information at 9am and by 6pm I was given confirmation he was in custody with no bond,” she wrote:
“THIS IS REAL. Someone offered to buy my child! Watch your babies CLOSE and when you feel something is off .. IT IS. Stand up for what you know is right and what is wrong,” Benning concluded.