Elderly Man Tried To Pull Down 11-Year-Old Girl's Shorts At Walmart

An 11-year-old girl was allegedly assaulted by an elderly man at a North Carolina Walmart while her mother wasn’t paying attention to the child.

According to the police, the suspect, identified as 63-year-old Raymond Leonard Mancini, of Youngsville, assaulted and attempted to kidnap the child inside a Walmart in Wake Forest on Friday, July 16.

The girl’s mother, Holly Hage said she, her husband, and their two daughters, ages seven and 11, were shopping at the store on Friday night.

Hage said she was looking at the Instant Pots when she noticed Mancini, who made her feel uncomfortable enough that she told her youngest daughter to come closer.

Hage said her older daughter was farther down the aisle looking at candles when Mancini approached her, which the parents did not notice.

"He approached her, pulled the front of her pants trying to pull them off," Hage said. "And he said, 'I'm sorry I have to.' No you don't have to, no. It's disgusting."

The suspect fled the scene when the child screamed in shock.

"I saw him put his hands up like this and said, 'Ok I'm leaving now,'" she said.

The victim and her father then walked the store, searching for Mancini, but could not locate him.

Police were alerted after the mother reported the incident to an employee.

The investigators examined the surveillance footage and identified the suspect.

Mancini was arrested on Saturday and has been charged with felony indecent liberties with a child and felony second-degree kidnapping.

He was being held at the Wake County Detention Center on a $50,000 secured bond.

During his court appearance on Monday, the charge was upgraded to first-degree kidnapping.

"The kidnapping charge stemmed from the fact the subject impeded the juvenile's ability to get away," said Bill Crabtree, spokesperson for the Wake Forest Police Department.

Wake County District Court Judge, Mark Stevens, further raised his bond to $250,000 and ordered him to stay away from all Walmart properties.

The judge also ordered Mancini to undergo a mental evaluation after prosecutors said he tried harming himself when police officers tried to arrest him.

"When you get a bad vibe from somebody like this man, pay attention to it. Whatever you’re buying at the store isn’t as important as your children, isn’t as important as your family, as your peace of mind," Hage said, a report from KFOR quoted.

"I don’t have peace of mind anymore; they don’t have peace of mind anymore," said Hage. "We don’t feel safe even though he’s caught."

"I can't sleep," she said. "The inside of my body is like shaking. I'm-she is having trouble sleeping. She doesn't want to sleep in her own room. She doesn't want to go to stores. I don't want to go to stores. I don't feel safe."