After approaching a mother and allegedly trying to use $100,000 to buy her daughter, who is 8, an older registered sex offender was jailed on Thursday, according to police.
According to reports, on August 16, while shopping at a Winn Dixie grocery store in Port Orange, Florida, Hellmuth Kolb, 85, made remarks about the girl’s attractiveness and inquired about her age from her mother, Lauren Benning.
Kolb, an Austrian native, then yelled at the woman and urged her to “make a deal” with him, laughing at onlookers who questioned why he would say such things.
Police discovered Kolb sitting on a seat outside the shop and approached him to inquire about the incident. Kolb chuckled and replied, “We all like kids.”
He is said to have carried off a similar ruse in 2018, offering $100,000 to “bid” on a 10-year-old girl shopping with her mother before increasing his price to $200,000.
The 85-year-old Florida sex offender who offered to pay the mother $100,000 for her 8-year-old daughter led to his arrest, then he told the police that “We all enjoy kids.”
Benning said: ‘He just came up and he started making comments about how pretty she was and how good her dancing was and how he could never have children and he wanted children.’
The conversation took a sinister turn when Kolb made the offer to buy her daughter, Benning claimed she was “very shocked.”
She added: ‘He needs to be locked up and not allowed to be around our children.’
Police said: ‘Unfortunately for him, we were able to confirm through his Probation Officer that Mr. Kolb is currently on probation for similar issues, and he is not to have any contact with minor children.’
A similar prior incident in which Kolb offered to buy a different child from her mother outside a Walmart shop in 2018 led to his detention. He broke his probation, which is why he was detained this time.
On a seat inside the Walmart, Tracy Nigh was relaxing with her daughter when Kolb entered, inquired about her marital status, and began making offers on her daughter, starting at $100,000 and ending at $200,000.
When Nigh attempted to leave, Kolb allegedly grabbed her daughter by the arms and legs and kissed the girl on the wrist.
Nigh contacted shop security when she and her toddler managed to escape from the elderly man.
According to the authorities, Nigh and Kolb’s interaction was captured on surveillance footage, and Kolb was confirmed after another lady posted about a similar encounter on social media and through a credit card transaction.
After Kolb was released from jail on bond, a reporter knocked on his home, and the married man maintained he had no idea why he was in court while speaking with a distinctive Austrian accent.
In both instances, Kolb admitted to authorities that he had no recollection of making the proposals or touching any kids.
Kolb is prohibited from interacting with children and must be accompanied while visiting big-box retailers, according to the police.
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