Convicted sex offender arrested after visit to daycare center

Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press
·2 min read
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MUNCIE, Ind. — A convicted sex offender from Eaton was arrested Wednesday after his most recent visit to a local daycare center.

Ezra Hulie Webb III, 56 — also listed on court documents at a Muncie address — was being held in the Delaware County jail Thursday under a $15,000 bond, preliminarily charged with unlawful entry of school property by a serious sex offender, sex offender registry offenses and failure by a sex offender to possess personal identification.

Eaton police said Webb on Wednesday went to the Eaton Church of God's Little Blessings Daycare Center, which is a short distance from Eaton Elementary School and a local park.

Investigator said Webb went to the daycare center and asked to use a telephone. Employees at the center — who were unaware the Eaton man was a sex offender — said he had been there previously for the same reason.

Based on their criminal histories, some sex offenders are prohibited from visiting facilities for children, including schools.

More:Wanted sex offender arrested near Muncie elementary school

According to the Indiana Sex and Violent Offender Registry, Webb is classified as a sexually violent predator. In Illinois in 2009, he was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse with a juvenile victim and sexual exploitation of a child.

In 2019, he was convicted of illegal sex offender registry in Delaware Circuit Court 3 after two Muncie police officers reported observing Webb as he watched "a young female student" outside East Washington Academy.

In that case, Webb's prosecuti9on came after it was determined he was violating state law by living within 1,000 feet of that elementary school. The conviction resulted in a 158-day jail sentence, which Webb had already served.

Also in 2019, Webb was convicted of falling to register as a sex or violent offender in Marion County.

He also faces two counts of failure by a sex offender to possess personal identification, filed both last September and in September 2019 in Muncie City Court.

The Eaton man is identified on the sex offender registry, and in police reports filed Wednesday, as Ezra Hulie Webb III.

Court documents stemming from his 2019 conviction, however, list his first name as Ezar.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Trip to daycare center results in latest arrest for sex offender