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CHAMPAIGN — Champaign police arrested an Urbana man Thursday afternoon shortly after he allegedly tried to get a girl to get in his car in north Champaign.
Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said Friday that she charged Ricky Allen Smith, 53, a convicted sex offender, with child abduction.
Champaign police Sgt. Dave Griffet said the 12-year-old girl was walking near the intersection of Hickory and Bellefontaine streets about 3:30 p.m. when a man in a car approached her and offered her $20 to get in with him.
The girl went directly to her home on Hickory Street and told her mother what had happened. Another teen in the neighborhood was able to get the car's license plate and give that information to the mother, who relayed it to police.
Griffet said that within minutes, Sgt. John Schweighart found the vehicle driven by Smith as he drove in the area of Eureka and Hickory street. Smith, who listed an address in the 1200 block of West Eureka Street, Urbana, was alone.
Griffet said the girl identified Smith as the man who had approached her.
He was arrested and taken to the police department for questioning, Griffet said, and later to the county jail.
Rietz said that Smith was convicted in Champaign County in July 1993 of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for fondling a 14-year-old Urbana girl but was no longer required to register as a sex offender because the time period for which he was required to do so had lapsed.
Even though the girl did not get in the car Thursday, Rietz said that the charge of child abduction includes an attempt to lure a child into a car. It's a Class 4 felony carrying penalties ranging from probation to one to three years in prison upon conviction.
get this sleezeball off the streets. this type of person is a threat to little girls. one to three years is not enough time for this creepo. give him the most you can give even if you have to make up charges. probation is out of the question for what he tried to do. I remember a case in Rantoul in 1980 where a child lost her life and a man spent 31 years in prison for something he didn't do. get this creep off the streets and it will be safe for little girls who are just being who they are, little girls. I hate people like this who slips through the cracks of justice and then something happens like what happened in 1980, and then there's no justice for the victims or getting the perp! I want to see justice for the victim in the 1980 case because the perp is still running from the law and there's nothing being done or reported by the authorities. get maurice tucker and the other perp from 1980 where a 3 year old lost her life! sick and sad case!