A registered sex offender is in custody after picking up a juvenile girl in River Falls on Dec. 10 and taking them to his home in Unity.

Jason J. Lull, 44, was ordered to pay $25,000 cash bond March 9 in Pierce County Circuit Court on felony child enticement – sexual contact and knowingly fail to notify school of sex offender status charges. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison and/or fines up to $100,000.

According to the complaint:

A family member reported the 15-year-old juvenile as a runaway at 12:09 p.m. Dec. 10 and said she was able to track the teen’s whereabouts on a phone, which showed it was heading east on I-94. The juvenile had left with the same man on Dec. 7, but came back.
Lull and a friend picked up the juvenile at the River Falls Public Elementary School (211 N. Fremont St.) playground. The juvenile is not a student there. Camera footage showed the juvenile getting into the backseat of a gray Chevrolet Equinox.

Police tracked the vehicle to a gas station at 641 Lavorata Road in Cadott in Chippewa County. The vehicle headed into Clark County while dispatch gathered information on the suspect, identified as Lull, a registered sex offender on probation with a monitoring bracelet.

Clark County authorities responded to Lull’s residence in Unity where the Equinox pulled in. Lull and the juvenile were both taken into custody.

The investigation revealed the juvenile and Lull met on a dating app, then traded SnapChat usernames. The juvenile allegedly told Lull they were 18, but conversations in SnapChat show that Lull was aware that wasn’t true as he told them to get a fake ID and tell everyone they were 18. Lull said he was looking for a relationship.

The juvenile was returned safely to their family member.

Lull is scheduled to appear in court at 11 a.m. March 17 for a preliminary hearing.