WASHINGTON — A Maryland man known to police for watching young girls outside their schools in the Silver Spring area has been convicted of sexual solicitation of a minor after he approached two girls while driving around with a mattress and condoms in his back seat, court documents said.
Daniel Dickson, 34, was convicted Tuesday of the solicitation of a minor after he propositioned a 15-year-old and her older sister as they were walking near Loiderman Middle School, on Goodhill Road in Silver Spring, Maryland, last June, court documents said.
“A girl was able to get on her cellphone [and] video the license plate and make and model of the car Dickson was using,” said Ramon Korionoff, with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office.
(Courtesy Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office)
The girls told officers they had seen the same man near the school at least two mornings a week, the documents say.
During his arrest, a search of Dickson’s minivan turned up what Korionoff described as disturbing evidence: “There was a full-size twin mattress in the back of his Mazda minivan and various other paraphernalia that were sexual in nature: body sprays, oils and boxes of condoms.”
Dickson was known to police after a 2013 incident in which a then-17-year-old girl reported to officers that a man approached her in his minivan as she was walking home from Wheaton High school, in Silver Spring. Her description of Dickson matched the sisters’ description.
After propositioning the teen, the documents said, “The driver continued following her as she was walking home, asking her to get in the car with him, saying ‘Come play with me’, ‘Wanna see this?’ and ‘What’s your number?'”
After that incident, Dickson admitted to police he followed girls and “was only going to do it until someone told him to stop,” according to charging documents.
Because of this previous incident, Korionoff said, officers had reason to believe he was escalating his tactics.
Dickson was found guilty after a two-day bench trial. He’ll be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison in March. The felony conviction also carries a $25,000 fine, and Dickson has to register as a sex offender.
