WHEAT RIDGE — Police on Thursday combed a stretch of Clear Creek trail in search of a man accused of chasing and stabbing a woman and her toddler son.

Detectives were looking for Marvin Gean Wilson, 44, whom the woman identified as the suspect. The stabbing happened about 11:30 a.m. in the creek’s greenbelt area north of Pierce Street and West 48th Avenue as the woman, in her early 20s, and her son, who is 2 or 3, walked along the path, Wheat Ridge police spokesman John Romero said.

Wilson is a sex offender and has a warrant for his arrest for failing to register that dates back to 2008, according to court records.

The mother and boy had made it about 200 yards from the parking lot when, the woman told police, a man jumped from the bushes, chased and then stabbed them, possibly with a knife. The woman was cut in the legs, and the boy suffered puncture wounds to his abdomen. Though Romero said neither victim’s injuries appeared life-threatening, the boy was being held in the intensive care unit of a local hospital overnight.

The trail is a popular spot for joggers. An elderly couple spotted the mother and son within minutes of the attack and assisted them, Romero said. Police also said the stabbing was not random.

“We’re still investigating what the relationship is” between the woman and Wilson, Romero said. Wilson has a lengthy criminal history that includes more than one arrest for sexual assault on a child, court records show. He pleaded guilty in 2005 to failing to register as a sex offender and was arrested for the same crime three years later.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections said Wilson’s real name is Fletcher Wilson, though he used several aliases, and he served prison time for forgery, theft, drug abuse and fraud. The DOC discharged him in October 2005.

Police described Wilson as a white male, about 6 feet tall, wearing blue shorts, blue shirt and black boots, with tattoos on his shoulders and neck. Romero urged anyone who sees Wilson to call Wheat Ridge police at 303-237-2220.