One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
81-Year-Old Sex Offender Arrested For Attempted Kidnap of 12-Year-Old Girl
Holmes (Photo courtesy LASD)
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.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
