More charges were filed Wednesday for the man arrested in Santa Monica with a auto full of explosives and guns.
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James Wesley Howell is accused of sexually abusing an underage girl in his vehicle May 31 after exchanging online messages, family members of the girl told The Indianapolis Star.
Howell was arrested by police in Santa Monica, California, on this past Sunday after a resident called stating that Howell was knocking on his door and windows.
James Wesley Howell, the IN man arrested Sunday morning hours ahead of the L.A. Pride parade and found with a large arsenal of guns, is now accused of child molestation.
That same morning, 50 people were killed in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando.
Authorities have not yet disclosed if evidence existed that Howell had planned violence at the event, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz said at the scenario “just don’t pass the common sense test”.
Howell left for California after he learned he was under investigation in the alleged molestation, Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull told IndyStar.
Howell pleaded not guilty to three felony weapons and ammunition charges and his attorney, Pamela Jobes, told the judge there was no evidence Howell planned to detonate the chemicals.
Howell in April was convicted of intimidation in Clark County and ordered to forfeit all firearms. His bail has been set at $2 million, citing a “significant public safety danger”.
While police in Santa Monica initially indicated that James Howell meant “to harm” the LGBT event in West Hollywood, the office later clarified that Howell’s intentions are not clear. Mull said it’s the responsibility of the probation department to make sure Howell didn’t have weapons following his sentencing.
Friends in IN described Howell as a gun enthusiast with a short temper.
Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney said gun enthusiasts don’t mix Shoc-Shot until it’s ready to be used, as federal regulations require, and the amount that Howell had “far exceeds any amount that would reasonably be used”. The assault rifle was loaded with a 30-round magazine, which had another inverted 30-round magazine taped to it, police said. In October, he twice was accused of pulling a gun and making threats, once against his then-boyfriend and once against a neighbor. He also noted that Howell apparently had violated a probation requirement from IN that he surrender all weapons.
According to the affidavit, he first took the girl to the state forestry property before taking her to the family friend’s house.
Federal agents searched Howell’s home in Jeffersonville, Ind., on Monday but declined to release any details. He had been a suspect in a sexual assault investigation for an incident that happened May 31.
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In the other incident a neighbor called police and said Howell had pointed a handgun at her.
