Man charged with attempting to abduct 6-year-old boy from festival

A Columbus man is free on bond after the Franklin County Sheriff ’s office said he attempted to abduct a 6-year-old boy from a cultural and religious festival Saturday in Brown Twp.

The suspect, Ketema Kuma Faye, 20, of Columbus’ East Side, was attending a Festival of India on Saturday in Brown Twp., located in western Franklin County, according to the sheriff ’s office. The event was a fundraiser for the building of a new temple on the site.

Franklin County Sheriff ’s Sgt. Brian Toth said that around 1:45 p.m., Faye, who had been an employee of a company that helped set up equipment at the festival, approached the 6-year-old boy outside a bounce house. Toth said Faye walked, holding the child’s hand, about 100 yards away to the festival entrance.

“The father was helping another child off a slide and looked away for about five seconds,” Toth said. “He looked back up and his son was gone.”

The child told Faye he wanted to go back to his father, according to Toth. But Faye shushed the boy, gripping his wrist tighter when the boy physically attempted to pull away, the sergeant said.

A volunteer who worked near the entrance asked Faye if the boy was his child. Faye answered yes but the child said no, Toth said. The worker noticed a look on the boy’s face that alerted her to something not being quite right.

“That worker, she thwarted this abduction,” Toth said.

Volunteers and other witnesses quickly separated the boy from Faye, according to the sheriff ’s office. The boy’s parents, who had begun looking for the child, had caught up to them and were quickly reunited with their boy.

Faye was taken into custody by deputies without incident. He has been charged with one count of abduction. He has not given detectives any indication of what his motivation may have been, Toth said.

Franklin County Municipal Court Judge James Green gave Faye a $25,000 bond during a court hearing on Monday morning.

Faye posted that bond on Tuesday afternoon and was released from custody.