3-year-old girl was intended target
A 29-year-old Georgia man was arrested after sneaking into Four Stars Childcare in Paradis and trying to take his 3-year-old daughter even though he is not supposed to have unsupervised contact with her, according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Joshua E. Bacon, of Ringgold, Ga., was arrested shortly after leaving the center and was charged with interference with child custody and on a warrant for making harassing phone calls.
“We are very happy that no one was injured and that he wasn’t armed,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dwayne LaGrange said. “When a child is involved, things get very emotional.”
According to Amie Knuppel, who is the owner of Four Stars Childcare, it appears that Bacon followed the child’s grandparents to the center and watched them drop her off. He then waited for a group of parents to enter the door and followed them inside. Because he was walking with a group that was known to her employees, Bacon was able to get past the front desk.
“We always have someone at the front desk, but they thought he was with the people that he walked in with because he blended in,” she said. “He was very slick and had everything planned out.”
Knuppel said that Bacon eventually asked to see his daughter.
“The worker there didn’t recognize him and immediately pulled his child’s file and saw that he was not supposed to have unsupervised contact with his daughter,” she said. “Some of my workers and some parents who were there kept him from escaping while another worker made sure his daughter was safe.”
When Bacon tried to run, Knuppel said he was restrained.
Knuppel also says that Bacon had someone waiting for him outside in a getaway car. When the man saw that Bacon was being held for the police, he left the car and tried to open the door to the center, she added.
“But a parent kept him from coming in.”
Bacon did eventually make it outside of the center, but was arrested shortly after.
“He did push one of my workers, but we were lucky that he wasn’t armed,” Knuppel said. “We’ve never had anything like that but our workers are trained to deal with a situation like that.
“They did an awesome job and I am so proud of them.”
LaGrange said the employees and good Samaritans were one of the main reasons that Bacon was captured.
“They kept him at the daycare and made sure that the child was safe,” LaGrange said. “They also gave a really good description and told us where they believed Bacon was going to be, which led to his arrest.”
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