Apex man accused of duct-taping toddler

"I don't want to be seen as a bad person. I am not a villain," Sebastian Fitzgerald Holcomb said.

Holcomb, 44, of 9108 Creek Glen Way, was arrested Friday and charged with assault on a child under 12.

Apex police Capt. Ann Stephens said the child's mother was washing dishes and left Holcomb to watch the child.

When she went into the dining room, she found the child's mouth covered by duct tape and the child's wrists and ankles bound with tape, police said.

She immediately left the home with the child and called police from a friend's home.

“It was something that was stupid. I just made a stupid mistake, that’s all," Holcomb said.

Police said the toddler wasn't injured and wasn't taken to a hospital but that he had red marks on his body from the tape.

"From what we understand from the mother, he likes to aggravate the child and made the statement that the child cries too much," Stephens said. "The child could have suffocated. You don't put tape on a child for any reason, ever."

The mother has since moved out, police said.

Holcomb was out of jail Tuesday on a $5,000 secured bond.

Apex police said Holcomb is also wanted in California for several misdemeanor crimes as well as felonious breaking and entering. California authorities, however, have chosen not to extradite him.