Warrant: Registered sex offender used pool to attract kids
Published 5:00 pm Thursday, October 25, 2018
GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) Authorities say a registered sex offender lured children to his North Carolina home with a basketball court, trampoline, pool and “other toys.”
News outlets report 37-year-old Eric Svenson Spurling had a 2002 child molestation conviction in the state of Washington, and was again convicted nine years later for communicating with a minor for an immoral purpose. As a result, he wasn’t allowed to be alone with children.
A search warrant executed Wednesday says he urged children to sleep in his camper and change clothes at his home, which was wired with cameras. One woman told Gaston County deputies he touched her buttocks in the pool.
Spurling is charged with providing childcare to a minor as a registered sex offender. He’s been appointed a public defender. His bond is set at $1 million.