Local

Man accused of killing Jacksonville girl has long criminal history

Records show the suspect in the kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle in Jacksonville, Florida is a known sex offender, who has tried to lure children before.

Action News in Jacksonville reports that in 2009, Donald James  Smith tried to lure a young girl away from her mother.

They say Smith posed as a DCF worker and called a local mom saying he needed to speak with her child.

Smith was arrested after the mother got suspicious and called police, Action News reports.

Records also show that last year, Smith pleaded guilty to attempted impersonation of a public employee and attempted child abuse by mental harm.
He was sentenced to one year for each count, but was out of jail within a year because of time served.

Smith had only been out of jail for 21 days before Cherish was found dead.

The mother in the 2009 case, Stephanie Boggs, told Action News she wonders why Smith was out of prison at all.

Records show Smith's criminal past with children goes all the way back to 1977, when he was convicted for lewd and lascivious behavior on a child under 16.

In 1993, he got a 5-year prison sentence for attempted kidnapping of a minor.

Police say he tried to lure three little girls into a van filled with pornography.

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