WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT John Moore, 29, a repeat sex offender, is accused of attempting to kidnap a 14-year-old girl in Kentwood, Michigan, as she walked home from school
A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnapping following two separate assault incidents, one of which involved a girl under the age of 16.
John Moore, 29, is accused of attempting to abduct a 14 year old girl in Kentwood, Michigan, on May 12. The incident took place at around 6pm, when Moore allegedly pulled up alongside the girl in his black SUV as she walked home from school. CCTV footage captures a man rapidly parking his vehicle close to the girl on the pavement, leaping out, and attempting to seize her.
“I got you,” Moore told the teen when he allegedly grabbed her, the girl recounted to police.
The pair then appeared to engage in a physical struggle, before the teenager managed to fight back and flee to safety, reports the Mirror US.
After the teen, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed as she is a minor, escaped the scene, Moore reportedly returned to his vehicle and drove away. Investigators confirmed the teenager managed to injure Moore during the struggle, though authorities declined to reveal the nature or extent of those injuries.
Following Moore’s arrest, investigators swiftly connected him to a further incident in the same area on the very same day. On May 13, a 66 year old woman reported to Kentwood Police Department that a man had attacked her between 5pm and 6:30pm on Poinsettia Avenue Southeast.
She told officers she was tending to her garden when a vehicle pulled up. The driver climbed out, spoke to her, before launching a physical assault upon her. CCTV footage and witness statements helped police rapidly identify Moore and place him under arrest.
Moore is currently being held at the Kent County Correctional Facility on $140,000 bail. He faces charges of assault and battery and unlawful imprisonment, as well as two probation violations.
Moore had been handed a probation sentence last summer after he was accused of filming upskirt videos of women and grabbing female shoppers from behind at a grocery store.
Surveillance footage captured Moore “crouching down behind” a woman in the store’s common area and covertly recording an upskirt video of her dress. The woman also discovered him in the bathroom, peering at her from the floor of the adjacent cubicle.
Roughly a year and a half later, he was caught telling women they had a spider on their backs. Once he moved in to supposedly help remove the creature, he would grab their behinds, according to local news outlets.
Despite the allegations, Laura Jouce, Moore’s public defender, described him as a “kind” and “gentle” person.
“He’s kind, and he’s gentle, and he’s patient, and I don’t think these crimes are reflective of the person that he is. I think that he’s had a reckoning while he’s been in jail regarding some potential substance abuse issues that he has to handle,” she told the court.
Anyone with information regarding the incidents, or who is aware of similar cases, is urged to contact KPD on (616) 656-6580.













You must be logged in to post a comment Login