The Etowah County Sheriff's Office confirmed Monday the arrest of a convicted sex offender in connection with an attempted abduction in Walnut Grove last week.

Investigator Kevin Grant said 61-year-old Donald Edward Holcomb is charged with unlawful enticement.  Holcomb is accused of trying to lure an 11-year-old girl away from a convenience store along U.S. Highway 278.

The Alabama Sex Offender Registry shows Holcomb, of Kerri Lane East near Boaz, was convicted of rape in 1994.  The victim in that case was a 14-year-old girl.

In the Walnut Grove case, the 11-year-old girl resisted Holcomb's alleged efforts and was able to break free.  The girl's mother said Holcomb had tried to convince the girl to follow him to watch him perform a magic trick.

Holcomb faces a $2500 bond on the enticement charge.

The Etowah County Sheriff's Office had worked at one point to secure electronic ankle monitors to help keep watch on sex offenders.  No one within the office's criminal division was able to immediately say whether the monitors have been secured.

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