81-Year-Old Sex Offender Arrested For Attempted Kidnap of 12-Year-Old Girl

An elderly man was arrested yesterday in Palmdale and charged with the attempted kidnapping of a 12-year-old girl. 81-year-old Keith Holmes, a registered sex offender, spotted the victim as she walked alone, but in the sight of her parents, in what the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department describe as "a business district at Pearblossom Highway and 85th St., in Littlerock."

Holmes pulled alongside the victim in his vehicle, and offered the girl a ride. Though she refused, he continued to follow alongside her slowly. The child's mother intervened, and asked Holmes what he wanted. He sped away, but when he was stopped at a nearby red light, the child's mother was able to get his vehicle and license plate info and make a report to Palmdale Sheriff's Station deputies.

Deputies used the vehicle information to determine the likely identify of the suspect, and tracked down his vehicle in Pearblossom. He was detained, then arrested, following an identification by the child and her mother.

Holmes has twice been arrested by Palmdale Sheriff's Station deputies and convicted for annoying or molesting a child twice since December of 2009. Suspect Holmes is currently on probation for those convictions. His bail is set at $1 million.