Bad Links?
Other glitches?
Notify Webmaster

Fayette sex offender arrested in Ohio

By LEE WILLIAMS

lwilliams@theCitizenNews.com

“You better lock me up or I’ll do it again.”

That is the statement Daniel Lee Cole, a Fayette County sex offender, told Toledo, Ohio, officials when questioned about his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and sexual assault of two 12-year-old girls, Toledo Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit Officer Lt. William Moton said.

The 36-year-old man was convicted in March 1999 for molesting a 9-year-old Fayette County girl. Now, the registered Georgia sex offender and absconded probationer faces two new felony charges after kidnapping two teens from the Miracle Mile Shopping Center in Toledo, Moton said.

Cole remains in the Lucas County, Ohio, jail on charges of gross sexual imposition and kidnapping in connection with the Oct. 31 incident. He is being held on a $500,000 bond, Moton added.

Cole’s crime spree allegedly began in his home state, police said. The Smyrna resident allegedly broke into an unspecified establishment in Forsyth County, stole guns and jewelry and fled to Toledo.

During his trip, he assaulted and kidnapped two teens from the Miracle Mile Shopping Center about 1:45 p.m.

“The victims stated they were stopped by the listed arrested who told them he was a security guard,” police officials said in a prepared statement. “He handcuffed both victims, placing one in the trunk of his car and the other one on the floor in the front seat.”

Cole allegedly struck one of the victims and traded locations with the other, who was also assaulted.

While the suspect was driving, one of the victims mouthed ‘Help me’ to a pedestrian, Motion said. The pedestrian jotted down Cole’s license plate number, which was later determined to be stolen and he wrote down a description of the suspect’s vehicle.

The teens were dropped off at Larchmont Gardens and ran to a person who was working in his front yard. The victims parents were notified and the victims were treated at a local hospital.

Cole’s vehicle was found parked in the 1700 block of Unity Court. Police rounded up Cole and brought him to the Northwest Precinct.

Cole allegedly gave police a statement and he was subsequently charged in connection with the crimes.

At the time of his arrest, Cole, an ex-convict who was released Nov. 4, 2003, after serving the maximum five-year prison term, was serving out a probation sentence. Griffin Judicial Circuit Chief Superior Court Judge Paschal English presided over the case.

Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Camille Cunningham confirmed Cole’s probation sentence would have been completed Nov. 4, 2008. She added officials of the Griffin Judicial Circuit Probation Division was charged with supervising him during his probation period.

A warrant was issued May 18 for Cole. However, she said, officials had no reason to suspect Cole would allegedly strike again.

“If there had been a reason to think he would do this, his probation would have been revoked,” Cunningham said.