Suspect Held in Kidnapping of 4-Year-Old Anaheim Boy

Police arrested a Placentia man Thursday morning in connection with the June 24 kidnapping of a 4-year-old boy from in front of a family member’s home, authorities said.

Billy Drew Tinsley Jr., 39, was arrested in Brea at 11:30 a.m., culminating a weeklong joint investigation by the Anaheim and Brea police departments.

Authorities say they have determined that the kidnapper exposed himself to the boy during the incident and are continuing to investigate whether the boy was molested, said Sgt. Craig Hunter of the Anaheim Police Department. “We believe the motive for the kidnapping was sexually oriented.”

The suspect reportedly drove up to the child, who was playing in front of his aunt’s and grandmother’s homes in the 2500 block of Terrace Street in Anaheim, Hunter said. While family members were inside, the suspect picked the child up, put him in a pickup and drove off.

The child was found alone and uninjured 90 minutes later in the playground of Brea Junior High School by city workers, who called police.

A 13-year-old friend of the boy’s family later told police he saw a bearded man put the child in a red pickup with a distinctive company logo on the side.

Brea authorities focused on Tinsley as a suspect after receiving reports of flashers near Brea City Hall Park.

In investigating those indecent-exposure reports, officers canvassing parks interviewed a witness who described a vehicle matching the one in the June 24 kidnapping.

“His criminal history shows that he had a propensity for that kind of behavior,” Hunter said of Tinsley, adding that he was convicted on an indecent-exposure charge in Placentia last year.

Tinsley is being held at the Anaheim Temporary Detention Facility on suspicion of kidnapping and is set to be arraigned on Tuesday, Hunter said.