Man arrested, accused of soliciting sex from girls ages 7 to 13, Wichita police say

A 43-year-old Wichita man was arrested after he tried to solicit sex from three girls between the ages of 7 and 13, Wichita police spokesperson Chad Ditch said.

Damien Henderson was arrested on three counts of aggravated criminal solicitation of a child and several warrants, Ditch said, though arrest records replace the aggravated counts with indecent solicitation of a child.

Around 7:35 p.m. Wednesday, police were flagged down at the intersection of Yale and Dunham by a family member of the girls.

“The investigation revealed that the three girls were walking in the neighborhood together when Henderson walked up to them and solicited all of them for sex,” Ditch said in a news release. “The girls fled on foot and informed their parents.”

Based on the description given of the suspect, police found Henderson near 31st Street South and K-15, in south Wichita, and less than a mile from where police were flagged down.

The arrest comes on the heels of incidents last week where three students were reportedly kidnapped by the same man over two days — and two of them sexually assaulted — and a driver tried to coerce a 13-year-old girl to get closer to his vehicle.

A man was arrested in the kidnappings and sexual assaults. Police say the other incident was a different person. No one has been arrested in that case. All of the cases last week occurred while Wichita Public Schools students were walking to or from school.

This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 10:22 AM.