Cops last night announced the arrest of a convicted sex offender for allegedly sucking the toes of a female Walmart shopper as she tried on shoes inside a North Carolina store.

Michael Anthony Brown, 31, was collared yesterday and charged with assault in connection with the unsettling incident Monday morning at a Walmart in Lincolnton, a city about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte. Brown is pictured in the adjacent mug shot.

After investigators publicized the toe licking--and released photos from a Walmart surveillance camera--a police officer from another North Carolina city recognized Brown, who cops reported is “a registered sex offender that has been charged with similar crimes in the past.”

Booked into jail on a felony count, Brown is being held in lieu of a $50,000 secured bond. According to North Carolina records, Brown was placed on the state’s sex offender registry in mid-2004 following his release from prison (he served time for an “attempted rape or attempted sex offense” conviction).

Police allege that Brown approached the 35-year-old victim inside Walmart and struck up a conversation with her “about shoes.” Claiming to be a podiatry student, Brown somehow talked the victim into trying on several pairs of footwear in the store’s shoe department. The woman told cops that she “believed the subject may have been a Wal-Mart employee.”

While helping the woman try on shoes, Brown allegedly took her foot, placed it in his mouth, and “began to suck on the victim’s toes.” When the woman became upset, Brown allegedly offered to pay for her groceries, according to police. Brown can be seen entering the Lincolnton Walmart in the below store surveillance photo.