Man arrested, accused of trying to kidnap a child from a Ky. school playground

A man from South Carolina was arrested Friday, after Kentucky State Police say he tried to abduct a child from the playground of a school in south Kentucky.

Willie O. Bethea, 37, of Latta, S.C., went onto the playground of Whitley County Intermediate School “and attempted to get a child to go with him,” Kentucky State Police said in a news release. “He was confronted by school staff and left the property.”

Bethea was found at Walmart in Corbin and arrested.

State police said all Whitley County Schools, as well as Williamsburg City Schools and Corbin City Schools, were put on soft lock-down as a safety precaution before the arrest Friday.

Trooper Scottie Pennington said state police do not know of any relationship between Bethea and the child.

Before he was spotted on the playground, Bethea “came to the school and said that he wanted to enroll a kid,” but he did not have a child with him, Pennington said in a short interview Friday evening.

Bethea is charged with attempted kidnapping of a minor, first-degree criminal trespassing, persistent felony offender and driving on a suspended license.