COLUMBUS, Ind. – Three local people have been arrested and preliminarily charged with felonies as a result of an inquiry into a sex offender living near a school.

The Columbus Police Department (CPD) received a tip of suspicious activity at a home in the 200 block of S. Brooks Street. Investigators learned that Philip Vennie, 43, of Columbus, was living at the house and that he is a serious violent predator. Vennie is prohibited from residing at the home because it is within 1000 feet of CSA Fodrea Elementary School.

Officers witnessed the suspect on the school’s property on August 5. A short time later, the man was arrested at his workplace on the preliminary charge of unlawful entry by a serious sex offender, a level 6 felony, for being on the school property. He remains in the Bartho

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