Former central Ohio superintendent arrested for kidnapping in West Virginia
A former Columbus-area superintendent was arrested Thursday in Huntington, West Virginia after police alleged that he attempted to kidnap two children.
William Morrison, 59, of Huntington, was charged with two felony counts of kidnapping resulting from an incident that occurred on Aug. 17, when local police allege he lured two children into his vehicle in Huntington.
In 2017, Morrison was released from his contract as superintendent of the Columbus-area Hamilton Local School District after Columbus police found crack cocaine in his car.
On August 17, Two children, a 9-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl, reported that they were approached near an intersection by a man in a dark-colored Subaru Forester offering them $20 to babysit a child.
Police say Morrison was a stranger to the children, and that he then lured them into his car.
After driving to another area, police allege that he asked the boy to get out of the car and inspect his tire. When the boy exited the vehicle, the man drove off with the girl still inside.
The man ignored the girl’s demands to be let out but the girl was able to open a passenger door and exit the vehicle a few blocks away, a release said. Neither child reported being injured by Morrison while they were occupants in his car.
The Huntington police initially asked for the public’s help on Facebook in identifying the suspect based on security photos of the Subaru Forester, which had a rear donut tire, but posted Friday that Morrison had been identified and arrested.
The release said the investigation is ongoing and more charges are possible.
In 2017, Morrison, who was 54 at the time, also faced criminal charges for drug possession in addition to losing his job as Hamilton Local Schools superintendent. Morrison took a plea deal to participate in the Franklin County Municipal Court’s special drug court and pleaded guilty to possession of a counterfeit controlled substance and was sentenced to 180 days in jail with 176 of them suspended.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ex-superintendent arrested in W.Va., police say he lured kids into SUV
