TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A 85-year-old man has been arrested in Tallahassee for inappropriately touching a minor under 12-years-old.
The Tallahassee Police Department said that Mahmoud Raji was arrested on Wednesday for lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under twelve years of age.
According to a probable cause document, the incident happened at Victoria Grand Apartments.
The victim's father told police that he and his two children, a son and a daughter, were in the rec room of the apartment's clubhouse playing pool. Raji, who the family knew as "Mahmoud", was also in the clubhouse.
The father told police that they were familiar with him as they have seen him frequently (Raji also lived there) and shot pool with him before. However, this was the first time the father had left the victim alone with him.
After playing for a while, the father left for about ten minutes to go to a computer. His daughter left with him, while the victim stayed to keep playing.
The document said that when the father came back, the family left and went back to their apartment. When they did, the victim told his father that "the old man" had touched him "in a way he did not like," demonstrating how to his father.
Police said that the father called them, relaying what the victim had told him.
When officials reviewed the surveillance footage, they saw that Raji had touched the victim inappropriately several times, even after the victim pulled away from him.
After review, Raji was arrested and transported to the Leon County Jail. Police later found that he was not an American citizen as his passport from Iran was servicing as a temporary U.S. visitor visa.
Raji had his first appearance yesterday. He was released for pre-trial supervision and had to surrender his passport to law enforcement.
