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Man wanted for sexual contact with teen found on UCF campus with 3 children, police say

ORLANDO, Fla. — University of Central Florida police found a wanted man sleeping in a car in a student housing community with three children in the back seat.

Police said Shawn Hamilton was wanted for having sexual contact with an underage girl during an incident in March.

Investigators said he admitted to having sexual contact with the teen.

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UCF police were patrolling the Knights Circle apartment complex around 10:30 p.m. Saturday when an officer noticed a suspicious car.

Reports show a man was sleeping in the front seat; two young kids were sleeping in the back seat and a third child was playing games on a cellphone.

Officers said that man was Hamilton, who was wanted out of Orange County for lewd and lascivious battery.

Detectives said Hamilton admitted to having sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl in that case.

UCF students say it's common for students and faculty members to alert police if there's something that seems suspicious happening on or near campus.

"I feel like most students, at least people I know, are pretty good about letting somebody know when something bad is happening,” said UCF student Michael McClanahan.

UCF is now in the testing phase of using license plate readers that take photographs of license plates and flag any cars associated with active warrants.

The Knights complex is off campus, so it's not in an area with those readers.

"I think it could be a good deterrent,” McClanahan said. “I know there's some people that don't like it for privacy reasons but I guess it's, like, you know, how much privacy do you want or how much security do you want?”

Hamilton has also been arrested for animal cruelty in the past. He entered a not guilty plea in that case.

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