A 78-year-old registered sex offender has been indicted on a felony charge after allegedly trying to lure an 11-year-old child into his van during Lancaster's Oct. 29 trick-or-treat event last week. The child ran away after the man allegedly asked them to come to the vehicle for candy, and an affidavit in the case reported that no candy was found in the van.
A Fairfield County grand jury indicted Russell Pierce Jr. on Wednesday for criminal child enticement, a felony, according to 10TV. The indictment stems from an incident on October 29, when Lancaster police officers responded to the area of West 6th and Washington avenues just after 7:15 p.m. after receiving reports of a man trying to lure children to his vehicle with candy.
Investigators identified the driver of the van as Pierce, the station reports. Per investigators, Pierce asked the 11-year-old to come to his van for candy, and the child ran away. According to the same report, Pierce's vehicle contained no candy when it was searched, a detail attributed to the affidavit in the case.
A Past Conviction Surfaces in Court Documents
Lancaster police describe Pierce as a registered sex offender, and the station's report notes he was previously convicted of rape in 2005. Court documents in the case state that witnesses knew Pierce was a registered sex offender, according to the same account.
Pierce was arrested and booked into the Fairfield County Jail following the indictment. The report states that no next court date has been scheduled.
How Ohio Law Treats Child Enticement Charges
Under Ohio law, criminal child enticement is generally classified as a first-degree misdemeanor. But Ohio Revised Code section 2905.05 elevates the offense to a fifth-degree felony when the offender has a prior conviction for certain specified crimes, including rape under a separate section of the code. It is not clear from available records exactly which statutory provision prosecutors used to charge Pierce as a felony in this case.
The indictment leaves several details of the case unresolved, including the full scope of the allegations contained in the underlying affidavit. No hearing date, plea, or case disposition has been reported.
