Video: Sex offender arrested after encounter at local park
WESTLAKE, Ohio (WJW) — An encounter earlier this month between a woman with her toddler and a 61-year-old man at a Westlake park led to a felony arrest warrant for the man, after Westlake police learned he was a formerly registered sex offender, according to a report.
A resident who recognized the man from an online sex offender database called Westlake police at about 10 a.m. on April 13 to report the 61-year-old Westlake man, later identified as Tao Huang, was “getting very ‘friendly'” with a woman and her toddler at Bradley Woods Reservation along Bradley Road, according to a Westlake police report.
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The caller spoke with the woman, who then called police herself and said the man had been playing with her toddler. Huang, who she said she only knew as “Tao,” called himself a “teacher in body language,” reads the report.
A Westlake police dispatcher “dug through old records and databases” and identified the suspect as 61-year-old Huang who was previously registered as a Tier I sex offender, but whose requirement to register as a sex offender had just recently expired.
In Ohio, Tier I sex offenders are required to register with local authorities each year for 15 years, and there is no requirement for their neighbors or the community to be notified. By contrast, Tier III sex offenders — who have been convicted of the most serious sex offenses — must register every six months for the rest of their lives.
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Cleveland Metroparks Police detectives obtained felony warrants on charges of gross sexual imposition and Westlake officers arrested the Huang at his home, according to the report. He was turned over to Metroparks police.
Police Chief Kevin Bielozer wrote a letter of commendation to the dispatcher:
“Your instinct to act in defense of our most vulnerable population was the critical step in identifying the offender and facilitating his arrest,” reads the letter. “You should take particular pride in knowing that your work has directly led to the removal of the worst type of criminal from our community before he could victimize another child.”
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