Sacramento police have arrested a 16-year-old boy on suspicion of communicating with minors to commit a sexual offense after receiving a report Wednesday of suspicious behavior by an individual who approached two 7-year-old boys.
Officers responded to Mark Hopkins Elementary School in the 2200 block of Matson Drive at 4:32 p.m. Wednesday after the 7-year-olds reported being approached by an unknown man on the school grounds. They reported that the stranger offered them $20 in an attempt to get them to follow him, according to a Police Department news release.
The boys ran off and alerted a teacher and another school employee. The suspect was seen leaving the area on foot.
Today, day shift officers that patrol that neighborhood were briefed on Wednesday's incident. They recalled an incident that occurred some weeks ago involving a 16-year-old youth who was found inside a nearby elementary school and subsequently cited for trespassing.
School resource officers, area police officers and sex assault child abuse detectives were able to identify and verify that the youth in the trespassing case was the same person as the suspect in Wednesday's incident, officials said.
The 16-year-old boy, whose name was not released because of his age, was booked into juvenile hall.
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