A 35-year-old Oxford Township man is free on bond, but wearing an electronic tether after allegedly molesting a 9-year-old girl last week on Thomas Road.
Thomas Eugene Moore was arraigned July 15 in Rochester Hills 52-3 District Court before Magistrate Magistrate Robert Badgley on one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Moore is accused of molesting the 9-year-old Oxford girl he was baby-sitting last week.
Accompanied by his attorney, Todd Fox, the suspect turned himself in to authorities Thursday.
Moore went free on a $25,000 personal bond (no cash required), but must wear a global tether and have no contact with either the victim or anyone else under the age of 16, except for his 5-year-old daughter, whom he has custody of.
Following previous felony convictions for armed robbery (1988), breaking and entering (1988) and escaping from prison (1991), Moore was discharged from prison in 1995.
The first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge ? which carries a possible life prison sentence if convicted ? stems from a July 13 incident in which Moore allegedly performed a sex act on the young girl inside his pickup truck after stopping along Thomas Road. A friend of the family, he had just taken the little girl swimming.
According to Det. John Robertson, Moore stopped the sex act when the girl started to cry.
‘He then made what I would consider a threat saying, ‘Don’t tell anybody cause I’ll go to jail. If you do, I’ll be mad,?? Robertson said.
After the alleged assault, Moore and the girl went to a friend’s house where she tried to phone her mother, but there was no phone available there.
When Moore and the girl returned to his apartment on Thomas Road, she was able to phone her mother to pick her up, but couldn’t say anything about the alleged assault because ‘he was right over her,? Robertson said.
‘As soon (as her mother) got there, she ran to the car and told mom,? the detective said. ‘Mom got out and confronted the guy, told him he was going to prison and she was going to call the police. She then came in and made the report.?
On Monday, Moore’s attorney Fox said he couldn’t comment on the allegations against his client as he had not yet received a copy of the sheriff’s report.
Robertson noted Moore had previously told the victim he was leaving the state for Missouri following his daughter’s birthday party Aug. 7.
The Family Independence Agency has been contacted to investigate whether Moore should continue to have custody of his daughter in light of these allegations, Robertson said.
Fox said Moore has never been accused of molesting his daughter.
Moore will be back in court July 26 for a pre-examination conference before Judge Julie Nicholson.