An intruder who broke into an Indiana home and attempted to abduct a 6-year-old girl in June has been arrested, according to reports.
Roth, the grandmother of the young girl the man was attempting to abduct, told Fox 59 she was woken up on June 10 by the intruder who broke open the front door and a bedroom door, claiming the girl was his own.
“I was sound asleep in my bedroom and this guy came kicking in and said, ‘You have my daughter,’” she recalled.
The intruder, Benjamin Dillon, 37, threatened to abduct the 6-year-old, according to Lebanon police. However, the girl’s grandmother told the outlet her husband was able to remove Dillon from their home, who became aggressive when police arrived.
A fight then ensued between Dillon and the officers present, which resulted in Dillon getting tasered multiple times.
Roth later, referring to the incident, told reporters, “I was nervous, very nervous. I was shaking so bad.”
“I don’t understand why he picked our apartment. I’ll never figure that one out,” she said, adding that she believed he had taken drugs. “I hope he gets the help he needs and I hope he gets himself back on his feet.”
According to court records, the 37-year-old had been arrested twice in 2019 alone on drug-related charges, reported Fox 59.
The young girl told police she was frightened, but wasn’t harmed during the ordeal, authorities said.
The girl’s grandmother later warned Dillon against returning to their Indiana home.
“I wouldn’t want him walking back in my apartment again. He will regret it the next time,” Roth said.
Dillon faces charges including burglary, battery on a law enforcement officer, and intimidation.
Missing Children
There were 424,066 missing children reported in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center in 2018, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement they must be entered into the database. In 2017, there were 464,324 entries.
“This number represents reports of missing children. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated, that would also be reflected in the total,” the center notes on its website.
“Unfortunately, since many children are never reported missing, there is no reliable way to determine the total number of children who are actually missing in the U.S.,” NCMEC (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children) added.
In 2018, the center said it assisted officers and families with the cases of more than 25,000 missing children. In those cases, 92 percent were endangered runaways, and 4 percent were family abductions.
The center said that it participates in the Amber Alert Program, which is a voluntary partnership between numerous entities including broadcasters, transportation agencies, and law enforcement agencies. The Amber Alert Program issues urgent bulletins in the most serious child abduction cases.
According to the NCMEC, to date, 941 children have been successfully recovered as a result of the Amber Alert Program.
The center notes that of the more than 23,500 runaways reported in 2018, about one in seven were likely victims of child sex trafficking.
The Epoch Times reporter Justin Morgan contributed to this report.
