Teen says trying to help led to arrest

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Teen says trying to help led to arrest
ORLANDO, Fla., (UPI) -- A 14-year-old Florida boy charged with "false imprisonment" of a toddler at a store said Thursday he was trying to help reunite the girl and her mother.

The teen, identified only as Edwin, appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America." He said his problems began during a trip to a Burlington Coat Factory branch with his mother.

Edwin said he saw the 3-year-old girl on her own, decided she needed help and told her to follow him, thinking her mother was one of a group of women who had just left the store for the parking lot. She wasn't.

The girl's mother says the toddler was next to her when she disappeared. She found her daughter and Edwin in the parking lot.

Meanwhile, a clerk had dialed 911, reporting a possible abduction under way. The clerk said the mother reported her child being lured away by a stranger.

Edwin and his mother thought the incident was over and returned to shopping but a few minutes later police had arrived and he was in handcuffs.

His mother, Mildred Roman (Edwin has a different last name), backs his story, saying the girl was alone when he saw her. The police report appears contradictory, ABC says, both suggesting Edwin was only trying to help a child and saying there was probable cause for an arrest.
 
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