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| Pictures result in sex offender's arrest |
| By record-eagle.com |
| Published: 01/14/2010 |
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TRAVERSE CITY -- A convicted sex offender faces a fresh criminal charge after he allegedly took a picture of a student near Eastern Elementary School. Scott Allen Mallwitz, 44, pleaded guilty in March 2008 to three felony counts of child pornography possession in Grand Traverse County. He was sentenced to 11 months in jail with credit, and released in August 2008. Now Mallwitz is back in jail after authorities allege he hovered around the school and appeared to take pictures of children. He could head to prison if it's determined he violated conditions of his probation, and he faces a new misdemeanor charge of being a sex offender in a school zone. School officials contacted police in December with reports of a man in a van driving near the school and taking pictures with his cell phone. City officers stepped up patrols, but weren't able to find the man or his van. Last week, a woman who went to Eastern to pick up her child from school saw the van drive by and decided to contact police. "She saw it do a U-turn and go by again, and it really heightened her suspicions," Traverse City Police Capt. Steve Morgan said. The woman gave police a license plate number, and investigators tracked down Mallwitz and arrested him for violating probation. Among other things, Mallwitz wasn't supposed to be within 1,000 feet of a school. Police asked Mallwitz if he had a cell phone, and he allegedly offered it up. "At the time we made contact with the suspect, we found a picture on his cell phone camera of a young girl walking near Eastern Elementary School," Morgan said. He initially said he accidently captured the girl's image as he tried to take a photo of the woods, but later admitted to deliberately photographing her and using the picture for "sexual gratification," according to a police report. Morgan said investigators didn't immediately find other pictures. Police aren't sure if Mallwitz ever set foot on school grounds, but they don't believe he interacted with children. "That's our concern, of course, but we don't have any information that he made physical contact with anybody," Morgan said. Local Michigan Department of Corrections supervisor Chuck Welch said Mallwitz was charged on Monday with three probation violations. A hearing will be held to determine if Mallwitz is guilty of the violations. Read More. |
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