Sex offender arrested in Chesco luring incidents

A convicted sex offender from Delaware has been charged in connection with an indecent exposure incident and two attempted child-lurings in Chester County, where parents have been on edge and another luring attempt was reported this morning.

Tasheene J. Cintron, 25, of Strasburg, was taken into custody Thursday after repeatedly driving past a young girl in the 700 block of W. Market St. in East Bradford Township on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., slowing down, and asking the girl if she wanted to get into his 2005 blue Chevy Cavalier, the criminal complaint said.

The girl said no and called her mother, the complaint said. A woman who knows the girl and saw Cintron speaking with her wrote down his license plate number before he drove away, the complaint said, adding that the woman noticed the girl "looked upset." She then contacted police, the complaint said.

The Delaware license plate listed Cintron, "a registered sex offender in Delaware," as a "subject associated" with the vehicle, the complaint said. Police said he was driving the vehicle when he was apprehended.

West Chester Police Chief Scott L. Bohn said his department has been collaborating with detectives in West Goshen Township, which charged Cintron with attempted child-luring and indecent exposure for an incident on Sept. 29 and indecent exposure and lewdness for behavior that occurred yesterday.

The luring-attempt victim told police she was waiting for her school bus near the intersection of Rosedale and Ceredo Avenues when a male subject approached in a vehicle. The subject, waving to get her attention, pulled over to the side of the road and continued to make gestures, a news release said.

The victim said the man then drove off, turned around, and came back to the area where she was standing. He stopped the vehicle with his window down and motioned for her to get into his car. When the victim refused, he exposed himself, and she ran home, police said.

West Goshen Township Police Chief Joseph Gleason said charges against Cintron of indecent exposure and lewdness were added this morning for an incident that occurred yesterday about 6:15 a.m. in the 1100 block of West Chester Pike. He said Cintron pulled alongside a female motorist and exposed himself.

This morning, a Unionville High School student was approached by a male in a dark green SUV at a Pennsbury Township bus stop, the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District reported. The girl told authorities that the man wanted to speak to her, she refused, and he drove away. State police are investigating the incident, school officials said.

Tensions have been so high that a man who was notified on Wednesday of a luring incident in West Goshen Township through a school alert called police a short time later and said he believed he knew who they were seeking: him.

It was a misunderstanding, the man said.

According to police, an 11-year-old girl reported that while at the intersection of Mackenzie Drive and Cotswold Lane about 8 a.m. Wednesday, a man in a blue or silver car "signaled her to come over to his vehicle."

The girl turned and ran home, police were notified, and the school issued an alert. A short time later a man, whose name has not been released, called and said he had received the school alert and that he believed he was the man being sought.

He told police he thought the girl was attempting to cross the intersection to get to her bus stop and that he "simply motioned for her walk across the intersection," according to a police statement.

"He stated that as he motioned to the juvenile that it was clear to walk in front of the vehicle, the juvenile turned around and ran away in the opposite direction," the statement said.

Gleason said the incident unfortunately demonstrated the community's anxiety.

"It was raining, and he was trying to be helpful by letting her know it was OK to cross in front of him, and she got scared," Gleason said. "She did exactly the right thing, and he did the right thing, too."

Gleason said he expects the charges against Cintron to grow before the investigation is over, and he urged anyone who witnesses suspicious activity to call police "right away."

According to an online Delaware sex offender registry, Cintron had sexual contact with a child under the age of 11 in 2001.