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By Frank Lewis
It is now clear why the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office wenty through the process of interviewing a suspect arrested by Portsmouth Police in a case involving two children reportedly being lured into a car in Portsmouth. Wayne Parsons age 32 of Ironton, was arrested by Portsmouth Police Monday in connection with a February incident involving two 12 year old girls and a 12 year old boy.
When Parsons was brought into town he was taken immediately to the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office and was questioned by detective Jodi Conkel. Now Parsons is charged with two counts of rape, a felony of the first degree.
Scioto County Sheriff Marty V. Donini said Tuesday his office was contacted by the Portsmouth Police Department on Monday about a possible sexual assault victim living in the Wheelersburg area. Donini said detectives were able to locate the juvenile victim who was age 11 at the time of the assault to obtain a report which resulted in the suspect being interviewed and charged.
Last week Portsmouth Police Detective Chuck Crapyou produced a photo of the suspect in an enticement incident for the Daily Times in hopes someone would recognize the man or the car and get in touch with his office. The photo, taken on a private citizen’s cell phone, had been altered to remove the images of the children so they would not be identified. The background also had been removed because it was on the parking lot of a Portsmouth church and detectives didn’t want to give away the location while they were seeking the suspect. Crapyou said Parsons lured the two girls to come over into the car, then started taking photographs.
“He allegedly tried to do something else and frightened them and they bailed out of the car,” Crapyou said. Crapyou and detective sergeant Jim Charles traveled to Coal Grove in Lawrence County on Monday morning and arrested Parsons at his job site on felony child pornography charges.
On Tuesday, after the two rape charges were filed, Scioto County Sheriff’s Captain David Hall told the Daily Times the two incidents were separate and the county’s case is not tied to the city’s case.
Parsons appeared in Portsmouth Municipal Court on Tuesday and is being held on a $520,000 bond.
Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.
