COMMERCE —  A local man has been arrested and charged with Online Solicitation of a Child and an additional charge of Escape While Arrested and or Confined.

On Wednesday, May 23 just shortly after 2 p.m., 26-year-old Commerce resident Lawrence Sherlock Lumpkin was arrested on a warrant for Online Solicitation of a Child.  Mr. Lumpkin was being sought because of a case arising out an incident which occurred in a conversation with a minor on Facebook back in March and April of this year.  A tip from a concerned citizen led to the arrest of Mr. Lumpkin. 

In addition to the solicitation charge, Mr. Lumpkin was charged with Escape While Arrested and or Confined because of his attempt to escape out of the Commerce Police Department book-in area.  During the book in process, Mr. Lumpkin was able to exit through a closing door and attempted to leave the jail area.  He was quickly apprehended and brought back into the book-in area. 

Mr. Lumpkin is currently being held at the Hunt County Jail on a $75,000 bond Online Solicitation of a Child and a $10,000 bond for Escape While Arrested and or Confined. 

At this time, we are not aware of any other attempts by Mr. Lumpkin to contact anyone else online.  If you think that you or your child may have been inappropriately contacted by Mr. Lumpkin on Facebook, we ask that you contact the Commerce Police Department at our non emergency of (903) 886-1139.