Man pleads guilty to attempted kidnapping of 5-year-old boy in September
A man who witnesses said tried to take a 5-year-old boy from the family’s driveway in north Spokane pleaded guilty in court Tuesday and was sentenced to 4½ months in jail.
Felix M. Booth, 35, will also have to register weekly as a sex offender for the next 10 years after Spokane County Superior Court Judge Julie McKay accepted the plea.
Before the sentencing, Booth’s attorney Anne Wasilewski told the court she was concerned about the guilty plea because of Booth’s mental health and his status as homeless.
She said Booth may not have access to resources that would allow him to register.
“This is somewhat against my legal advice,” Wasilewski said.
Despite concerns expressed by his attorney and McKay that if Booth misses one registration he will face prison time, Booth said he wanted to continue with his guilty plea so he could get out of jail.
“I just want to get this over with … I think I can be a better person,” Booth told the court.
According to court documents, a psychologist at Eastern State Hospital found he showed symptoms of schizophrenia but was still competent enough to understand the charges against him.
Those charges stemmed from an incident Sept. 2 in which a witness told police her neighbor’s 5-year-old son was standing outside his home on West Mission Avenue when Booth approached the boy, according to the probable cause document filed that month.
The witness said she heard Booth tell the boy to come to him before Booth grabbed the boy, according to court documents.
She told Booth, “That’s not your kid,” according to court documents.
According to the witness, Booth said, “This kid’s lost. Nobody is gonna miss this kid,” according to court documents. He then put the boy down and walked toward North Maple Street, the witness told police.
Spokane police officers found Booth and arrested him on suspicion of second-degree attempted kidnapping, the charge to which he pleaded Tuesday.
The standard sentence for those charges is 4½ to nine months.