Man arrested after exposing himself to teen girls in Tampa: HCSO
HCSO: Man chases, exposes and attacks students
A 32-year-old man faces multiple felony charges after he exposed himself to two 15-year-old girls and grabbed one of them Wednesday morning in Tampa, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. FOX 13’s Kylie Jones reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - A 32-year-old man faces multiple felony charges after he exposed himself to two 15-year-old girls and grabbed one of them Wednesday morning in Tampa, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Tampa School Scooter Incident
What we know:
Deputies said one girl was riding her scooter to school and the other was in a car when they saw each other and stopped to talk. HCSO said the girls were approached by 32-year-old Quaze Moore at 6:49 a.m. near 15th Street and College Park Drive.
According to the sheriff's office, Moore walked up to them and started making sexual comments. A spokesperson for the sheriff's office says the girls tried to tell him to go away.
"He didn't just walk away, he decided to escalate his behavior, and he continues to be aggressive towards these teenagers and he exposes himself and then he starts publicly masturbating in front of them," Amanda Granit, Chief communications Officer with the HCSO said.
Deputies said Moore chased them to a nearby parking lot, exposed himself, performed explicit acts, and grabbed one child before witnesses stepped in to stop the attack.
The two girls were able to get to a parking lot nearby where there was a food truck. Investigators say about a dozen bystanders helped call 911 and keep Moore from leaving until deputies got there.
"There's no way to describe this suspect's behavior as anything other than disgusting," Granit said.
Moore was arrested and charged with resisting officer without violence, two counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition (defendant 18+), and lewd or lascivious molestation (defendant 18+, victim 12-15).
Moore appeared in court in Hillsborough County on Thursday afternoon via video conference. His pre-trial detention hearing was scheduled for Tuesday.
Community Response to Incident
What they're saying:
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister commended the bystanders who intervened to rescue the children during the encounter.
"These witnesses didn't hesitate; they stepped up and stopped a predator in the act," Chronister said. "Let me be clear: we will not tolerate adults who prey on children in our community. This kind of behavior will be met with the full force of the law, and offenders will be held fully accountable."
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Sheriff Chad Chronister, who provided a statement on the arrest, as well as the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.