Registered sex offender arrested for trying to buy girl for $100,000 at grocery store
Hellmuth Kolb, 85, was reportedly ‘insistent’ when he made his offer to buy a female child from their parent at a Winn Dixie grocery store
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A registered sex offender was arrested after he allegedly attempted to buy a girl from her mother for $100,000 while the pair were shopping at a Florida grocery store, police say.
In a Facebook post shared by the Port Orange Police Department on Thursday, authorities describe how they arrested Hellmuth Kolb, 85, after they were called to a Winn Dixie grocery store after the mother claimed that the registered sex offender had approached her and her daughter about buying the young girl.
“Hellmuth Kolb attempted to purchase a female minor child for $100,000.00, from her parent. Due to the parent’s clear concern that someone was insistent on attempting to purchase their daughter in a grocery store, we were notified,” police said in a statement released the week after an investigation had been carried out about the 16 August incident.
Authorities say they were able to confirm with Kolb’s probation officer that the 85-year-old is currently on “probation for similar issues” and part of that probation is to not have any contact with minors, with his recent offence at the Florida grocery chain being in clear violation of that stipulation.
“Mr. Kolb should have simply stuck to just grocery shopping,” the Port Orange Police Department wrote.
Kolb is currently being held without bond in the Volusia County Jail on a probation violation, records show, according to ABC affiliate Local 10 News.
The daughter’s mother, Lauren Benning, described the disturbing encounter with local news station WESH, noting how she’d first assumed the man had only been lonely and didn’t suspect anything untoward.
“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,” she told the news outlet about the man’s comments about her 8-year-old daughter, who now says she’s afraid to go to the grocery store after the terrifying incident.
After first approaching the mother-daughter duo in the store, Kolb then followed them out to the parking lot where he reportedly “chased” the pair before making his unwelcome offer: “Hey, I want to make a deal with you. I’d like to buy her for $100,000,” Ms Benning said, relaying the man’s alleged words.
“I was in complete shock.”
The similar issues that Kolb’s probation officer was referring back to include a 2018 incident during which the 85-year-old man attempted to purchase another girl at a Walmart, this time for $200,000, according to WESH.
In that case, Kolb was sentenced to five years of probation for grabbing the girl and kissing her on the wrist, the report viewed by the news outlet showed.
Police are asking anyone who believes they have had similar contacts with Kolb to contact the Port Orange Police Department.
“We would appreciate any additional information that can be provided.”