SPOKANE, Wash. — Police arrested an unregistered sex offender on the banks of the Spokane River Monday.
Officers went to the area of 2700 E. South Riverton Ave. August 10th, 2026, when a caller reported seeing two young children coming out of a tent near the river.
Officers said the children, ages 7 and 9, did not previously know Michael Blodgett, a 70-year-old Level III registered sex offender.
The children told police they were been inside the tent playing with Blodgett and were going to make pancakes. They had gone to the river without their parents’ knowledge.
The children were safely reunited with their families.
According to SPD’s Special Victims Unit investigators were unable to establish probable cause for a Child Luring charge.
Investigators found no evidence the children had been harmed or that an additional crime involving the children had occurred.
Officers arrested Blodgett on a Failure to Register as a sex offender charge the next day. He was arrested on a similar charge in 2022.
Michael Blodgett’s arraignment will be on August 18th, 2026.
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