Soap Lake students report luring attempt

SOAP LAKE - Five Soap Lake Elementary students, ages 6 to 8, said a man tried to lure them into his vehicle when they were walking home after school.

The father of two of the children, Soap Lake resident Christopher Cameron, said his two kids told him a Hispanic man driving a black, late-1990s model Mustang pulled up to the group of girls and boys as they passed by the Soap Lake Post Office Monday at about 3:30 p.m.

The suspect reportedly told the children he had candy and offered them a ride home "in his warm car," Cameron said.

He was alarmed by their account and went to a neighbor's house to verify the story with the other three children.

"I asked them, 'Did a car approach you and ask if you wanted a ride?' and instantly their eyes got big and they knew exactly what I was talking about and said, 'Yeah, yeah,'" he said.

Luring is considered a class 2 felony under Washington state law, which defines it as "ordering, luring, or attempting to lure a minor or a person with a developmental disability into any area or structure that is obscured from or inaccessible to the public or into a motor vehicle."

Cameron said he immediately reported the incident to Soap Lake Police Chief Jim Dorris as well as a Soap Lake deputy, but alleges local law enforcement officials didn't take the information seriously, and cut him off to tell him they would increase patrols of the area but could do little else.

"The police were of no help to me, but I feel it's my responsibility to get this out there because these are our kids and it's a really scary deal," he said. "There's a lot of kids coming up abducted right now and it seems like it's becoming a fad or something ... I just don't want to be a statistic."

Dorris asserts that when Cameron's children were interviewed they "were vague about the description of the events and the vehicle," saying only that a man in a dark colored passenger car had approached them about a ride.

"We're not denouncing it happened but we don't have a lot to go on at this point," Dorris said.

The chief said he alerted the school about the incident and tried to contact the parent of the other three kids without success.

Cameron also met with Soap Lake Elementary School Principal Dan Andrews, expressing his concern that children above kindergarten age who live within a mile and a half of the school are not allowed to ride the bus.

Andrews said the rule isn't a school district policy, but is due to state funding limitations on school transportation.

The district recently met with state Department of Transportation officials concerning "safe passageways" for students who walk to and from school, a look at any dangerous intersections or "rougher areas of town" kids should avoid. The DOT is scheduled to release recommendations stemming from the study, but Andrews said there are no glaring route concerns at this point.

In the three years Andrews has been with the Soap Lake School District, this is the first time he's heard of a child luring or attempted abduction, he said.

After he was notified of the incident on Tuesday afternoon, Andrews said he spoke with a Soap Lake police officer and assigned a para-educator to walk home with the kids in the evening.

He also said the district would send a notification to parents about the incident.

"Our number one priority is securing the safety of our kids," he said.