A registered sex offender is accused of trying to kidnap a 3-year-old girl while her family was renting a car at Miami International Airport.

The Miami Herald reports the family arrived from Argentina on Tuesday, and the girl was walking with her older siblings when they encountered 42-year-old Cuong Nguyen.

A police report says Nguyen grabbed her by the wrist but she got free and ran to her mother. Nguyen said he grabbed her because "he thought she was cute."

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says Nguyen was convicted in 1996 for lewd and lascivious activity on a child.

He is charged with attempted kidnapping and false imprisonment of a child under 13.

He is being held in jail. Records don't indicate whether he has an attorney.