BENTON COUNTY — A Garfield man was still in the Benton County Jail Tuesday, Aug. 24, a week after his arrest on Aug. 17 in connection with an attempted kidnapping reported Friday, Aug. 13.

Ward was being held on a $100,000 bond.

Rogers police said Robert Dale Ward, 51, of 16106 Boundary Line Rd., Garfield, was arrested in connection with attempted kidnapping, a Class A felony.

Officers responded to a call Friday, Aug. 13, at McDonald’s, 903 W. Walnut St., Rogers, that a man was attempting to pull a 13-year-old boy into a car. The boy, who was unharmed, pulled away and went into the restaurant, according to a news release from the Rogers Police Department.

Police identified the man as Ward, a registered Level 4 sex offender - the most dangerous level.

A Level 4 offender is considered a sexually violent predator, according to the Arkansas Crime Information Center’s website.

These are individuals with impaired judgment or control who have sexual or violent compulsions they lack the ability to control, according to information on the Benton County Sheriff ’s Office Web site.

This may be because of pedophilia or other disorders of sexual attraction, mental illness or personality disorder that distorts thinking, interferes with behavioral control, and predisposes the person to acts of predatory sexual violence.

“I don’t know of any previous dealing that we’ve had with him here,” said Wayne Schoch, public information officer for the Police Department. “But he’s obviously had dealings with other police departments.”

Records show Ward was arrested in September 2005 on charges of sexual indecency with a child, resisting arrest and criminal trespass.

According to court records, on July 29, 2005, Ward solicited another 13-year-old boy to engage in “sexual intercourse, deviant sexual activity or sexual contact.”

Ward has three prior convictions for sexual abuse, according to a probable cause affidavit. All the arrests were in the 1980s.

He was convicted in 2005 of sexual solicitation/indecency with a child, the affidavit stated.

Richard Henry, an investigator with the Sheriff ’s Office Criminal Investigation Division, said Ward’s neighbors had been notified of his sex offender status. Ward’s home is located in a sparsely populated portion of northeast Benton County.

Ward is up to date with his paperwork, Henry said.

“As a Level 4 offender, he had to bring in proof of where he was living four times a year,” Henry said. “He brought his in on Monday (after Friday’s incident). He was up to date with us.”

Asked how Ward was out of prison given his past, Henry said that’s the way the judicial system works.

“Everybody gets out,” Henry said. “Once you do your time or get out on parole, you get out. Sex offenders are the same way except they have to register their residency. Now, whether or not they offend again is a different matter.”

According to court documents, Ward was evaluated by Ozark Guidance in August 1983 and tests indicated an IQ of 61.

His mother, Betty Ward, told Ozark Guidance evaluators in a 2005 evaluation Ward spent three years in prison for “spanking kids.”

She was with him Friday when the incident occurred, detectives said in the affidavit. Betty Ward said she did not see Robert Ward speak to any children.

News, Pages 7 on 08/25/2010