Florida Sheriff Urges Charges in Teen 'Kidnapper' Case Be Dropped
Cops arrested teen who said he was trying to help 3-year-old find mother.
June 28, 2010 — -- In an unusual twist, a Florida sheriff is asking that the state not bring formal charges against a teen his officers had arrested for the alleged -- and much debated -- attempted kidnapping of a 3-year-old.
Edwin McFarlane was arrested on June 10 despite stating that he was helping a seemingly lost 3-year-old girl look for her mother in a Burlington Coat Factory.
After the mother found Edwin and the girl, Edwin, 14, returned to shopping with his mother. A few minutes later, police officers arrived on the scene and arrested him.
"Although there was probable cause for the arrest of Edwin McFarlane for the June 10, 2010, incident at the Burlington Coat Factory, after careful review of the circumstances, I write today to ask your office to forego bringing any formal charges against this young man," Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings wrote in a letter addressed to Florida State Attorney Lawson Lamar.
Sources told ABC News affiliate WFTV that an officer leaked confidential information to a website.
"We stand by the integrity of the investigation. But because of the publicizing of information not properly authorized of an exempt status, it led us to this decision this afternoon," Capt. Angelo Nieves told WFTV.
Since McFarlane's arrest, the case has become a hot button issue in Florida where an unscientific poll taken by The Orlando Sentinel shortly after the incident showed that 93 percent of respondents did not agree with the police action.
"It has really turned our lives upside down and we've been walking in a nightmare since that day," Edwin's mother, Mildred Roman told The Orlando Sentinel. "Today we could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Edwin appeared on "Good Morning America" earlier this month to share his side of the story.
"I was just trying to help," said the soft-spoken Edwin told "GMA" on June 17.
Surveillance video of the incident shows Edwin walking out of the store with the little girl. He later told police that he thought her mother left the store without her.
