FBI warns schools of molester on loose

No attacks by the molester occurred in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Numerous schools in northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania received a warning from the FBI this week about a man who approaches females between the ages of 11 and 18 after they get off school buses and sexually assaults them in their homes.
There are 10 reported assaults that this man may be responsible for, with the last offense occurring Sept. 2 in Monroe Township in Ashtabula County.
Before that, the offender last struck in early May, leading a federal task force investigating the cases to believe he is using the school year time frame for his attacks.
None here
The man's first known attack was in Lake County in April 2001. None has occurred in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.
"We've had no incidents at all," said Maj. Mike Budd of the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department.
FBI Special Agent John Kane, head of the agency's Boardman office, couldn't be reached Friday.
The FBI issued this warning:
"The offender appears to have selected the victim in the past by following a school bus from a local school along the usual afternoon route. The offender will then watch as a young female enters her home residence prior to parking the dark-colored car that he is driving at the very end of the residence's driveway. The offender will then walk up and knock on the front door of the selected house."
His method
In most cases, the FBI warning reads, the offender, a white man, will engage the victim in a conversation, usually asking for directions, before entering the house. He holds an item such as a clipboard or a package to make him appear to be a delivery person; he sometimes wears eyeglasses or sunglasses, and a baseball cap.
In some cases, he was allowed in by the victims, and in other cases, he forced his way inside their homes. He also attempts to determine if anyone else is home before sexually assaulting the girls.
Report information
Those with information about the sexual assaults are asked to call the task force at (440) 354-9927.
Also, the Web site for the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department -- www.mahoningsheriff.com -- has the names and photographs of released sexual predators and offenders living in the county.
skolnick@vindy.com