A Newton County man was arrested after he allegedly followed a woman and her child home late Monday night and tried to get into the home.

According to Covington Police Department reports, the victim and her 3-year-old daughter were walking home from a store on Washington Street when two men spoke to her. The first asked his friend, "aren't you going to help this lady walk home?"

The victim told the men she had no need of their help and continued on her way.

While walking she noticed that one of the men, later identified as 34-year-old Erick Smith McKnight, was walking in the same direction, but across the street. She got almost to her home when her daughter told her she had lost her shoe. They went back to retrieve the missing shoe and McKnight approached her. At this point the victim said she picked up her daughter and began to walk faster toward her home.

She said at this point he told her, "You don't have to run; I'm not going to rape you or anything."

The victim told officers she reached her home, went inside and locked the doors. She said that she didn't see McKnight, but when her nephew left the residence, McKnight showed up again and began banging on the front door and windows.

When she peeked out the window, she saw him pacing on her front porch holding a stick.
When she continued to ignore him, he allegedly went around the home and knocked on the back doors and windows.

When officers made contact with McKnight, he said the woman had told him where she lived and he was "just trying to holler at her."

The woman told officers that she would not feel safe if McKnight was out on the streets that night, and he was arrested and taken to the Newton County Detention Center where he was charged with disorderly conduct.