Man Arrested After Ring Camera Captures Attempted Abduction Of 6-Year-Old Girl
33-year-old Deric McPherson was arrested on Aug. 23, 2022 after grabbing a 6-year-old girl and attempting to pull her down the sidewalk with him.
Butler County Sheriff's Office
On Aug. 23, 2022, Deric McPherson, a 33-year-old man from Ohio, was arrested after a family’s Ring camera showed him trying to abduct a 6-year-old girl. McPherson is seen on camera grabbing the child and dragging her down the sidewalk before the girl escapes his grip and runs away.
The child had been taking out the garbage outside her house in Hamilton, Ohio, when McPherson approached and groped her.
The child told ABC News, “This guy walked by, and he touched me, and he pulled me.”
The girl’s mother told CNN that her daughter ran into the house “with a blood-curling scream.” She told her mother, “Mommy, someone tried to take me, he touched my private parts.”
The girl’s parents are proud of their daughter’s quick-thinking and glad they previously had the “stranger danger” conversation with her. The Washington Post reported that the parents had taught the girl to make as much noise as possible if somebody ever tried to touch or take her, which is exactly what she did.
Her father said, "He wouldn't have let go of her if she wouldn't have pulled and screamed like she did."
Some of the footage was shared on ABC7. The video shows the girl by a garbage can at a curb. McPherson grabs and pulls her by the arm, she screams loudly, and pulls away. Once she escapes his grip, she runs towards her home. The would-be kidnapper lets go and walks the other way down the sidewalk, looking back before continuing to walk away.
At first, both parents tried to chase McPherson down the street by foot then the child’s father got in his car and followed McPherson until he was apprehended by Hamilton police.
McPherson has since been charged with two counts of kidnapping, one count of gross sexual imposition, and two counts of unlawful restraint, according to reporting by The Washington Post. He was previously arrested and charged with rape in 2014, but a grand jury dismissed the complaint.
The family plans to get the child counseling following the ordeal, according to CNN, and they are considering a move at the girl’s request.
