MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 63-year-old man was arrested Monday after he tried to kiss a 3-year-old girl on the lips at a convenience store in northwest Miami-Dade, deputies said.
According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the incident occurred around 3 p.m. on Labor Day at a store located at 5700 NW 22nd Ave.
Deputies said the victim was sitting on a stool inside the store and was briefly left alone, at which time the suspect, James Erwin Howard, of Miami, approached her and tried to kiss her on her lips.
According to the report, the victim appeared to be shocked and turned her face downwards, away from Howard, causing him to kiss her on the side of her face.
Deputies said Howard was detained a short time later and provided some kind of admission, although his exact statement to detectives was redacted from the publicly released report.
Howard was arrested on a charge of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 16.
As of Tuesday afternoon, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Online jail records listed his bond as “to be set.”
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