Nuevo Father Says He Saved Daughter From Sexual Predator, Leading To Arrest

PERRIS (CBSLA.com) — A Riverside County man says he caught his daughter sneaking out of the house moments before she ran away with a sexual predator.

Tim LeBlanc happened to be up around 2 a.m. Monday morning and noticed his 12-year-old daughter was gone and her bedroom window open.

"The screen was off and this window was open about 3 inches or so," LeBlanc said. "I was scared to death. Everybody tells me I'm overprotective, but apparently I'm under-protective."

LeBlanc says he started looking around his Nuevo neighborhood with his older son and found his daughter nearby with a man she met on social media.

"He had this door open about this wide and had his arm around my daughter and was kind of sweeping her in, putting her into the truck," LeBlanc said, gesturing to where he pulled up.

The father says he used self-defense to knock the man to ground and took a photo, holding him until police arrived.

Police later booked Scott Stilwell, 27, of San Diego County.

LeBlanc says Stilwell led his daughter to believe she was chatting with a 15-year-old boy on social media.

"He's lying to me, telling me, 'Oh, I'm 16.' And there was no way. He was obviously a grown man," LeBlanc said. "He was talking sexually, sending pictures of himself naked."

LeBlanc says his daughter wasn't allowed on social media sites and says if this could happen to him, it could happen to others. He encourages parents to beware.

"What I've gained from my interaction with this guy is I don't think she would've ever came home alive," LeBlanc said.

Stilwell was arrested, accused of meeting up with a child with intentions to commit a sexual act, along with sending harmful matter to a minor.