Kentucky man allegedly tried to kidnap 3-year-old boy, offered $1,000 to buy him

A Kentucky man who allegedly tried to kidnap a 3-year-old boy as he played in the yard has been charged in federal court.

A grand jury indicted Ronnie L. Helton, of Corbin, Thursday on one charged of attempted kidnapping.

Helton, 73, was arrested on state charges hours after an April 7 incident in Corbin in which a woman named Kristy Baker told police a man had tried to take her grandchild.

Baker said the boy was playing on a trailer sitting next to a fence around her yard when a man parked across the street and walked over to the child, according to the citation in the case.

The man took the child by the hand in an attempt to get him over the fence, Baker told police.

Baker said the man let go when she yelled and the child “ran to her in fear,” but that the man then came into the yard.

Baker’s boyfriend, Tony Goodwin, who had come from the back of the house, reported that the man offered to pay $1,000 for the boy, according to the citation.

Goodwin told the man to leave “before I kill you!” according to the citation.

The man left, but Baker got the license number on his car.

Corbin police arrested Helton about four hours later on charges of attempted kidnapping and promoting human trafficking, according to the citation.

Federal authorities later took over the case. The federal indictment did not allege that Helton offered to buy the boy and did not include a human trafficking charge.