‘Good Samaritans’ Stop Child Kidnapping, Woodstock Police Say
Woodstock IL Aug 14 2017 An attempted child kidnapping in Woodstock was thwarted by the “heroic actions” of two men who stopped the alleged perpetrator in his tracks, police said.
Two painters rescued a four-year-old boy who was pulled from his bicycle today by an alleged kidnapper near Olson Play Park, according to a press release from the Woodstock Police Department.
Kevin A. Sorenson, 39, of the 200 block of Meadow Lane in Woodstock, is accused of attempting to run off with the child after snatching him from his bicycle at around 12:43 p.m. Aug. 11. Screams from the boy and his friends alerted the men, a pair of Sherwin-Williams painters who have not been publicly identified by police. The painters, who happened to be working in the area, freed the boy and restrained Sorenson until police officers arrived, according to police.
“If the child’s friends had not screamed for help, and these two men had not intervened, I am confident that the child would have been physically injured,” Deputy Chief Jeffrey Parsons said.
Parsons said Sorenson was attempting to remove clothing from the child when the men came upon the scene.
Sorenson, a convicted child sex offender who is no longer required to register as such, was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Woodstock Police Department. He was charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and unlawful restraint, according to police.
Sorenson was no longer registered as a sex offender because he had fulfilled the state’s time requirement, according to Parsons.
At this time, police do not know if the boy’s parents were nearby when the incident occurred, Parsons said.
Police arrived on the scene after being called to the intersection of East Bagley and Clay streets, where the park is located, to respond to a fight in progress. When they arrived, police found the painters restraining Sorenson.
“Because of the quick, heroic actions of the Good Samaritans and responding officers and detectives, the child was not physically injured,” the WPD said in the release.
Sorenson’s court date and bond were to be set.
Woodstock Independent
