With hundreds of kids and families taking of advantage of free swimming at Splash Central as a part of Shriner’s Kids Day Wednesday, Huron police arrested a convicted sex offender in the water park. Public Information Officer Cory Borg says Splash Central management requested the Huron police do walkthroughs of the park because of the high attendance…
Twenty-five year old James Christopher Wahl was arrested, held overnight at the Beadle County Jail and released on a personal recognizance bond Thursday morning. Splash Central was at it’s 1,500 person capacity through most of the day Wednesday as it hosted Shriner’s Kid’s Day. The event featured free admission to the water park, among other free amenities for children. The line of kids outside the water park was at times nearly two blocks long. Borg says Wahl was inside Splash Central sitting on a bench when the officer recognized who it was…
As Borg mentioned there is an exception in South Dakota’s loitering in a communtiy safe zone statute…
Convicted sex offenders are not allowed to loiter within 500 feet of a park or 1000 feet from a school considered a community safe zone. Wahl was originally convicted in 2007 of fourth degree rape for the rape of a 13 year old girl. Loitering in a community safe zone is a Class 6 felony, punishable with a maximum sentence of two years in prison and or a four-thousand dollar fine.