A 72-year-old registered sex offender is behind bars, accused of breaking into a Denton woman's home early Friday and assaulting her, police say.
Denton police detailed the case in a statement released Saturday. A woman told police that a stranger broke into her home, attacked her and restrained her against her will for about two hours.
The woman said the man threatened her and cut her with a knife during the struggle, police said. She was able to free herself from the restraints and call 911 after the man ran away with her credit card and other property.
Police said the woman's injuries were minor and not life-threatening.
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Officers identified the man as 72-year-old Paul Merritt, a registered sex offender, after reviewing surveillance video taken from inside the home.
Police tracked him down Friday afternoon and saw he was wearing the same clothes as the man in the video and had fresh scratches on his face.
According to police, Merritt admitted to detectives that he first noticed the woman about two months ago at a store, followed her and watched her at her home multiple times. Police say Merritt admitted to breaking into her home and assaulting her Friday and he had tried to break into the home before.
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Detectives found that Merritt lied about his residential address and was primarily living at another residence, failing to comply with his sex offender registration requirements.
Merritt faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary of a residence, stalking, unlawful restraint and failure to comply with registration requirements. It is unclear whether he has an attorney.
He is held in the Denton County Jail on $355,000 bond.
Police are asking anyone with additional information about Merritt that may be relevant to detectives to call 940-349-8181 and reference case #22186808.
