A registered sex offender is back behind bars on allegations that he raped an 8-year-old girl while the mother was away.

Craig Edward Turpin, 44, of the 300 block of West Norman Avenue, was arrested Jan. 4 on suspicion of kidnapping and rape. He remains in the Montgomery County Jail on $500,000 bond, according to jail records.

Turpin is scheduled to be in court on Feb. 4.

Thursday night, Dayton Sgt. Larry Tolpin said that according to the police investigation, the incidents occurred after Turpin befriended a mother and her two children who lived in his apartment building.

The mother, who worked at night, would leave the alleged victim in the care of an older sibling. The mother instructed the children to not leave the apartment and not allow anyone inside, but they did not follow those instructions, Tolpin said.

Turpin would go to their apartment and at times invite the children to his apartment after the mother went to work.

Tolpin said police started the investigation after the alleged victim told her mother what was happening.

Tolpin said the alleged abuse occurred multiple times over a two- to three-month period.

Turpin is registered as a sex offender with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. He was convicted of a sex offense in 2000 involving a 17-year-old girl, Tolpin said.