MERIDIAN —
Up until about 2:45 p.m., the day was going pretty much like any other for a roadside spray crew with the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
But then a Kemper County Sheriff's Department unit, followed by two unmarked Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department vehicles, raced up alongside the spray truck Lance Jenkins was driving, and a half dozen officers ordered him to exit the truck.
Jenkins, 34, was taken into custody without incident on a charge of child exploitation, said LCSD investigators. Jenkins was taken to the LCSD Adult Detention Center in downtown Meridian and booked. His bond was set at $50,000.
Sheriff Billy Sollie was along for the arrest and said Jenkins was charged in connection with improper conduct with an 11-year-old Lauderdale County girl. Sollie said the arrest was a result of numerous improper texts and emails generated by Jenkins toward the girl in the last week.
Sollie credits the quick actions of the girl's parents with ensuring nothing occurred further and with bringing his department into the case at an early stage.
"Parents have to keep tabs on what their children are doing because as we've seen many times these predators do exist and they, from time to time, make themselves known in Lauderdale County," Sollie said. "Fortunately these parents were right on top of things and this child will be safe."
Sollie said the parents came to the department Monday morning to show investigators the alleged communications between their daughter and Jenkins. Soon afterward, sexual crime specialists with the LCSD were on the case.
Sollie and his investigators met at the intersection of Highway 495 and Highway 16 with a Kemper County Sheriff's Department investigator to go over the final details of the attempted arrest. The Kemper County investigator said Jenkins' crew would be several miles up Highway 495 North, north of Highway 16.
On a long, lonely stretch of the highway, the spray truck with Jenkins behind the wheel came into the view of the investigators. Other MDOT employees stood by watching as the investigators took Jenkins into custody.
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David Rosenbaum, right, an investigator with the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department, prepares to place handcuffs on Lance Jenkins, who was arrested Thursday afternoon on sexual predator charges. Brian Livingston
Discussion
July 27, 2012
Man arrested on child sex charges
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