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A 14-year-old girl was attacked by a repeat sex offender who pulled up on her in a black SUV while she was walking home from school in a quiet Michigan neighborhood — then allegedly attacked another woman hours later.
John Moore, 29, is accused of trying to kidnap the teen who was walking down a sidewalk in Kentwood, Mich., at around 6 p.m. on May 12, according to the Kentwood Police Department.
Footage captured Moore allegedly driving his blacked-out SUV down the residential street before he parked, jumped out of the vehicle and rushed towards the girl.
Moore allegedly assaulted the teen as he tried to restrain her
The teen fought back against her attacker and fled to safety as Moore ran back to his vehicle and drove off.
The teen claimed that Moore told her that “I got you” when he grabbed her during the terrifying encounter, according to court records obtained by News Channel 3.
Investigators noted the teen injured her much larger attacker as she fought to escape.
Following his arrest, police connected Moore to a second assault — this one on a 66-year-old woman in another Kentwood neighborhood the following day at around 2 p.m.
Moore had allegedly approached the woman while she was gardening outside her home, made unwanted advances and assaulted her before fleeing the scene, according to the outlet.
Police said similarities between the two incidents allowed investigators to quickly link the cases.
Moore was charged with assault and battery and unlawful imprisonment and is being held at the Kent County Correctional Facility on $140,000 bail.
Kent County Sheriff’s Office records also show he was hit with two probation violations on top of those charges.
Prior to the most recent attacks, Moore had been sentenced to probation last summer in connection with recording upskirt videos of women in September 2023 and grabbing female customers from behind at a Meijer grocery store about a year and a half later, WOODTV8 reported.
Moore was caught in the peeping incident when a woman looked up from the toilet and spotted him peering down at her from the next stall. Surveillance footage also caught him “crouching down behind the victim” in the store’s common area to secretly record an upskirt video up the shopper’s dress.
He was nabbed again about a year and a half later — this time walking around Meijer telling female customers they had a spider on their backs before grabbing their behinds, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker told WOODTV8.
Three women reported being assaulted during the incident, according to Becker.
During his trial, Moore’s public defender, Laura Joyce, 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,” Joyce told the court, according to the outlet.
Moore was sentenced to time served for the six months he had already spent in jail, given three years of probation last August and ordered to register as a sex offender by Kent County Circuit Court Judge Scott Noto.
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