Man, 50, grabbed young girls, cops say

He is charged with sex assault and kidnapping

Sitting in his faded red SUV, Kevin Smith waited for the school girls to walk by in the mornings so he could pick one off the street, authorities said.

Smith, 50, of Pompano Beach, is accused of grabbing two girls as they walked to school in Lauderdale Lakes. In the separate incidents, the girls were grabbed and threatened with a “large knife” to force them into a car, the Broward Sheriff ’s Office said.

Each girl struggled with Smith, but only one was able to break free and get away, authorities said.

Both incidents happened in the residential neighborhood just west of Boyd H. Anderson High School, Oriole Elementary School and Lauderdale Lakes Middle School. It is unclear which school each girl attended and their ages were not disclosed.

According to an arrest report, Smith forced a girl into his older-model Mitsubishi in the morning of Feb. 24 when she was on her way to school.

He told the girl to take her clothes off and threatened to hurt her if she didn’t stay quiet, the report said. While the girl undressed, Smith took his clothes off as well, the report said.

He sexually assaulted the girl inside the car, then told her to get out and not look back, authorities said.

Three days later, Smith grabbed another girl in the same neighborhood while she was on her way to school.

She smacked him in the face with her cellphone and ran, the report said.

Smith ran after her with a knife in his hand, the sheriff’s office said. She kept running and Smith eventually gave up, got back into his car and left, the report said.

Each girl gave a detailed description of Smith’s car, which helped investigators find him on Tuesday morning in the same neighborhood where the two attacks happened. Detectives think Smith may have been looking for his next victim when they found him.

Smith was identified from a photo lineup by the two underage victims. He was charged with sexual assault and two counts of kidnapping.

Smith has been in and out of state prison since 1985, when he was 18 years old, records show.

He has been convicted of armed robbery, drug possession and burglary, according records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Records also show he was arrested in 2003 on charges of sex assault of a child under age 12. Information about this case was not readily available on Wednesday evening.

Smith was arrested again in 2004 and charged with kidnapping and sexual battery but was acquitted by a jury.

Authorities ask anyone with information to call Detectives Ann Sutter or Bruce Link at 954-321-4240. Anonymous tips can also be given through Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 or online at browardcrimestoppers.org.

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