MIAMI (WSVN) - A mother is speaking out after her 15-year-old daughter came face to face with a male stranger while inside the women’s bathroom and she said the man committed a sickening crime.
The mother of the teenage girl said her daughter was attacked inside a DD’s discount women’s restroom by Rosemond Saint Louis.
“He was still in there, he was coming out of the women’s stall,” she said.
Video of the incident recorded by the mother led to the arrest of the 28-year-old, who was not far from the DD’s Discount store in Miami on Sunday when police arrested him.
The incident started at the store on Northeast 81st Street, where Sugar Smith said she was shopping with her kids when her teen daughter went to the restroom.
The daughter told 7News that while she was in the restroom, she noticed someone in another stall and when she went to leave, she saw the man.
“I opened the stall and there was a man standing right in front of me and he was exposed. He was brushing up against me and I had pushed him and I locked myself in the stall,” the victim said.
The teen said she eventually was able to fight off the man and run outside the bathroom.
“And when I saw her face and I heard her voice and she said ‘man in the bathroom,’ my heart dropped,” said Smith.
Those words from her daughter prompted Smith to head straight for the stall where the man was still inside.
“I heard a little something in the women’s bathroom and when I beat on the door, I got my camera ready because I didn’t know what I was about to walk into,” said Smith.
The 15-year-old said she is still emotionally scarred and scared while she is physically feeling strong as she did everything she could to get away from the stranger.
“I feel scared and emotional and sometimes my chest feels heavy,” the victim said.
“Come out of there, you scary piece of [expletive],” Smith is heard saying on the video.
The suspect got out of the school and ran out, leading Smith to call the police.
Officials said the video she filmed of Saint Louis helped them catch him.
“And what they reported was quite disturbing,” said Miami Police Department Officer Kiara Delva. “Officers were able to catch up with him not too far away from the incident location and place him into custody.”
Saint Louis was booked into jail early Monday morning and faced a judge.
“You were arrested for an attempted sexual battery,” the judge said.
According to the arrest report, Saint Louis is homeless and has a long rap sheet that includes previous arrests for indescent exposure, battery, drug possesion and more.
Smith said she and her daughter are still recovering after being face-to-face with the suspect. They both want other parents to realize how quickly something like this can happen.
“This makes me feel like anybody is capable of anything. It makes me feel more aware of my surroundings now,” the victim said.
“Thank goodness my daughter is not a person who is stuck in her phone and her head was up and she was paying attention and able to fight him off of her. Because if not, God knows what could have happened,” said Smith.
Saint Louis remains behind bars with his bond set at $53,000
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