South Berwick police have arrested a 23-year-old sex offender after reports Tuesday morning of a man in a car offering candy to fifth-grade girls at two bus stops.

Police searched for a newer model, red four-door Hyundai believed to be involved and found a car matching that description on Hubbard Road. Police charged Kevin J. Weeden, 23, with solicitation of a child to commit a prohibited act, failure to register as a sex offender and prohibited contact with a minor in a sex-offender-restricted zone, police said.

Maine’s sex offender registry lists Weeden as an out-of-state registrant who was convicted of indecent liberties with a minor by a U.S. Army special court martial in Virginia. Weeden last updated his registration in August 2012.

Weeden is being held at York County Jail in Alfred on $25,000 bail.

Members of the School Administrative District 60 community were notified of the incidents by Superintendent Steven Connolly in a notice posted on the school website.

The incidents occurred at about 8:10 a.m. One girl was approached at a bus stop on Cedar Lane and the other in the Knowlton School bus loop, the notice said. Both girls declined the offer and the man drove off.

The children told adults, who notified school officials, who then alerted police.

David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at: dhench@pressherald.com