Police: Registered sex offender abused 3-year-old girl

Delaware State Police have arrested a registered sex offender for allegedly sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl while she was in his care.

Detectives launched an investigation last Friday, when the girl was taken to a hospital for complaints of soreness to her lower region, police said in a news release.

An examination revealed the child had been subjected to sexual contact, according to investigators.

Police said that, during the time the abuse occurred, the victim was under the periodic care of her mother's friend, 65-year-old John T. King.

King, of Millsboro, turned himself in Wednesday to state police. He is charged with three counts of sexual abuse by a person of trust and with unlawful sexual contact by a sex offender.

King was required to register as a sex offender in March 2005 after being convicted of unlawful sexual contact with a victim between the ages of 1 and 11, according to the state registry database.

He remains jailed at the Sussex Correctional Institution on $220,000 cash bond.