A man accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl inside a Five Below restroom gained access by copying a safety knock her mother used to protect her, prosecutors said.
Ohio prosecutors allege Robert Kevin DeWeese, 37, mimicked the prearranged signal to enter a locked family bathroom at the Union Township store near South Lebanon on February 6, reports Fox 19.
He has been indicted on two counts of rape, two counts of gross sexual imposition, and single counts of kidnapping and abduction. A grand jury also designated him a sexually violent predator.
Prosecutors say the girl’s mother had briefly stepped away to buy a change of clothes after her daughter had an accident and told her not to open the door unless she heard the ‘special knock.’
But DeWeese is alleged to have overheard the prearranged signal between the pair and was able to get inside the bathroom after imitating it.
Authorities say the girl screamed so loudly it caused the suspect to flee.
The girl’s mother was only about 40 feet away at the time. Deputies later arrested DeWeese at a relative’s home.
Robert Kevin DeWeese, 37, is accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl inside a Five Below store restroom in Warren County, Ohio
Warren County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched shortly before 3:10pm after the mother reported that a man had touched her daughter inside the restroom.
The victim’s mother called 911 and said: ‘My daughter was in the bathroom. She had an accident. I went to see if I could go find her alternate clothing while she was in the bathroom.
‘She says a gentleman knocked on the door and came in and touched her while she was in there, and she yelled help. She yelled for him to stop.’
The child relied on a technique called the ‘Lion’s Roar,’ learned at Girl Scouts, to scream ‘stop’ as loud as she could. It allegedly startled DeWeese and sent him running out of the store.
Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell described the circumstances in a public social media post.
‘What are the odds that this happens at the exact time a serial sexual offender is in the store and eavesdropping with his ear to the door of the family bathroom?’ Fornshell wrote.
Court records indicate DeWeese had been released from prison just three days before the alleged assault after serving time for a parole violation.
Fornshell said DeWeese has prior sexual offense convictions, including an October 2021 conviction in Fairfield County for rape of a child younger than 13.
DeWeese has been indicted on two counts of rape, two counts of gross sexual imposition, and single counts of kidnapping and abduction
The child screamed after DeWeese allegedly came into the bathroom at the Five Below in Union Township near South Lebanon, Ohio
‘Someone like this should remain permanently separated from society,’ Fornshell said.
During his arraignment on Wednesday, Jennifer Nicholson, assistant prosecutor for Warren County, said, ‘He has no address. He has no job.’
DeWeese has a record stretching back almost 20 years with court records seen by WLWT showing additional sex crimes in Clinton, Licking, and Franklin counties.
Bond records show DeWeese is being held at the Warren County Jail on a cash-only bond set at $702,500.
Jail records also list a $1 million bond associated with the case.
