Suspect who made sexually explicit comments to Grapevine children identified by police

Police have identified a registered sex offender as the man who made lewd comments to children inside a Target store, and are asking the public to help locate him.

Investigators are looking for Kenneth Dewayne Roblez, 38, of Dallas. Roblez is wanted for a parole violation warrant, according to a news release from the Grapevine Police Department.

Tips from the public helped identify Roblez as the suspect, and several unrelated parties identified him as the man seen on Target surveillance video.

Officers are working with other law enforcement agencies and believe Roblez may also be linked to similar incidents in Plano, the release said.

Roblez’s whereabouts are unknown, and investigators are asking people to help find him. Police said they believe he is a threat to public safety and ask anyone who sees him to call 911 immediately.

Roblez is a suspect in an incident that occurred shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday with a 9-year-old student at Dove Elementary School, according to a Grapevine Police Department news release.

The girl told police she was walking on Laguna Vista Way several blocks from the school and talking to her mother on her cellphone when a man drove up in a dark gray or silver sedan and exposed himself to her, the release said.

She described the man as heavyset and 30 to 40 years old with dark hair, the release said. The man was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and tan shorts. The child ran away and made it home safely, the release said.

About 1:15 p.m. Sunday a man approached another 9-year-old girl at the Target on 1101 Ira E. Woods Ave., and made lewd comments about assaulting her, the release said. The man then made suggestive remarks to the mother of an 11-year-old girl, according to the release.

The man left the store before security was alerted, but surveillance video was captured. That suspect was described as about 40 years old, with dark brown or black hair and driving a dark gray or gold car, the release said.

This story was originally published October 5, 2017 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Suspect who made sexually explicit comments to Grapevine children identified by police."