I-TEAM: Man planned to use drug-laced candy to kidnap child from Xenia school, records show

XENIA — A Fairborn man planned to use drug-laced candy in an attempt to kidnap a child from a Xenia school Monday, court records show.

Reid Duran, 35, was charged Tuesday with attempted kidnapping, felonious assault and felony escape.

Police said Duran attended St. Brigid School’s “Open House” event Monday and told school staff he was there with his daughter, according to an affidavit and statement of facts.

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St. Brigid’s principal, Terry Adkins, told News Center 7 in a statement that Duran “wandered onto our campus, visited classrooms and presented himself as a father of a kindergarten student.” The man’s “noticeably unusual” prompted him to contact the police.

When police arrived on scene, they interviewed Duran in the school parking lot where he gave different stories about why he was at the school before admitting that he came to kidnap a child. He then voluntarily agreed to come to the Xenia Police Division to speak with officers.

When he was taken to an interview room, Duran allegedly attempted to stab a Xenia officer with a pen that was on the table. He later told police he “felt cornered and wanted to ‘put the officer down,’ and escape.”

Later during a interview with police, Duran told an officer that he went to St. Brigid School “attempting to find a small child to obtain sexual favors,” according to the affidavit.

Duran identified the child he intended to take by name based on a class photograph that was next to a kindergarten classroom at the school. He told police he planned to drug the child with a tranquilizer-laced Starburst and abduct them when they passed out.

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“After seeing the photo, Duran stated he planned on removing the child from the school and wanted to perform sexual acts on the child,” court documents stated.

After the interview, Xenia police said Duran attempted to escape the interview room before being “subdued” by an officer.

Xenia police said in a media release Wednesday that they were working to confirm some of the statements Duran made to officers.

The I-Team’s John Bedell spoke with Xenia Sergeant Lon Etchison Wednesday and he commended Principal Adkins’ awareness of the situation.

“The principal was very quick, as my understanding, in recognizing that there was an issue and addressing it. So I absolutely think that he could have prevented very bad from happening,” Etchison said.

Duran is currently being held without bond in the Greene County Jail. He’s scheduled to appear in court next on Aug. 29, according to online court records.

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