CORAL SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) - Authorities are praising a 12-year-old girl’s brave actions after, they said, a registered sex offender followed her and then tried to get into her Coral Springs home.
Thirty-two-year-old James Harmison appeared in bond court on Wednesday, one day after he was arrested. He stands accused of stalking the young victim on May 2.
According to Coral Spring Police, Harmison followed the girl in his work vehicle, as she walked home from school. While inside her residence, officials said, the suspect tried to get in.
But authorities said Harmison, who was convicted in 2009 of lewd and lascivious exhibition, was no match for the child, who, they said, did the right thing.
Detectives said Harmison had initially pulled up and asked the girl for directions. The child said she didn’t know and ended up going into her house.
Police said Harmison drove off but then came back, parked his van and knocked on her door.
In the arrest report, police said, “The victim did a low crawl to the front door, where she peered out of the front door viewer. The defendant said to the victim, ‘I know you are in there, open the door.'”
Investigators said she didn’t. Instead, she waited until he left, then went to the home of a neighbor who called police.
Officers tracked down Harmison with help from the sprinkler company for whom he was driving.
He has been charged with aggravated stalking of a person under 16. He remains in jail on a $50,000 bond.
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