PORT ORANGE, Fla. – A registered sex offender was arrested Thursday after offering a parent at a grocery store $100,000 for their daughter, according to the Port Orange Police Department.
Police said Hellmuth Kolb was arrested at a home on Sterling Chase Drive.
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According to police, Kolb tried to buy a young girl on Aug. 16. Police said they were notified “due to the parent’s clear concern that someone was insistent on attempting to purchase their daughter in a grocery store.”
According to a charging affidavit, the girl’s parent told police Kolb came up to them and made comments about the child’s appearance and asked about her age. The parent said they believed it was “harmless conversation yet creepy,” the affidavit said.
After the parent and child left the store, the affidavit said Kolb followed and shouted to get their attention before saying, “Hey, hey. I want to make a deal with you.” Bystanders tried to intervene and asked him why he would offer money before he went back into the store, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit said Kolb was arrested previously for trying to buy a child at a Walmart in Port Orange. He was serving a 5 years probation that began in August 2019.
The police department urges anyone who may have had similar interactions with Kolb to call 386-506-5894 or email knugent@port-orange.org.
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