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Wheatfield man cleared of attempted kidnapping charge, another man arrested

A Wheatfield man accused of trying to take a young child from her home has been cleared of the charges and another man has been arrested.

LOCKPORT, NY-- A Wheatfield man accused of trying to take a young child from her home has been cleared of the charges, and another man has been arrested.

Investigators say 64 year-old Larry Keiper of Niagara Falls was arrested for criminal trespass on June 29 in the area of the Ward Road home. Information developed in that case led police to investigate Keiper's connection to the June 28 incident.

"He was immediately taken into custody and, at that point," explained Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour, "some statements that he made, which we will not talk about, led us to further investigation into this kidnapping."

Niagara County District Attorney, Caroline Wojtaszek says DNA collected from the scene of the attempted kidnapping connected Keiper to the scene and effectively exonerated Salvatore Prezioso.

"Just so you understand," stressed Wojtaszek, "sometimes DNA can take months at best. At some offices across this state, it can take a year. This was done at lightning speed because of basically 24 hour work everyday...since we recovered that evidence...to get to the truth in this situation."

Prezioso, 49, was identified by a witness. Investigators questioned him the morning of the incident and he was arrested based on probable cause and statements he made to police at the time. He was released from custody and charges were dropped Monday afternoon.

Keiper has been charged with Attempted Kidnapping 2nd degree, Burglary 2nd degree, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. He is a Tier 3 registered sex offender. According NCSO, Keiper was convicted of the violent sexual assault of minor in California, in 1983.

He was on parole in New York for a burglary conviction at the time of his arrest June 29. We're told he cut off his ankle monitor on June 22, which means he was running loose a week before he was caught by deputies in Wheatfield.

"I knew nothing about this...nothing," stated a visibly angered Sheriff Voutour. "Nor did any of my police officers or the town police officers. The only one that knew was parole"

"I would have liked to have known that this guy was on the loose without his ankle bracelet," added Voutour. "You don't cut it off because it's too heavy to wear. you cut it off because you have intentions to do something. This guy is an animal and he prowled around Niagara county and almost raped a little girl. And besides that he sent someone else to jail for 12 days. I'm not saying we could have prevented it, but our chances are much better if we knew."

Theresa Prezioso, spoke for Salvatore Tuesday, "Sal is hopeful that this nightmare will serve to remind the public that a rush to judgment is never fair, and an arrest is not tantamount to guilt."

Keiper's next court appearance is July 17 in Wheatfield.

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