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A 44-year-old Mastic man has been indicted on multiple sex abuse charges for grabbing the buttocks of young girls inside the TJ Maxx in Medford during three separate visits this year, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
Jimmy Harry Velasquezgomez, a Honduran national, is accused of targeting girls ages 7, 9 and 11 while they shopped with their families in the store’s aisles, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.
The allegations “strike at the heart of our community’s sense of safety,” Tierney said, adding that his office will “relentlessly pursue justice on behalf of these victims and their families.”
The first incident occurred April 19, when a 7-year-old girl told her mother that a man had approached her in the toy aisle and grabbed her buttocks. By the time the mother searched the store, the man was gone.
Police responded and began an investigation.
On Sept. 20, an 11-year-old witnessed a man holding his genitals over his clothing before he allegedly walked past her and grabbed her buttocks. The family called police after the man exited the store.
The third case took place Oct. 29, when a 9-year-old told her mother a man had passed her in the toy aisle several times before pulling up the bottom of her sweatshirt and squeezing her buttocks.
Surveillance video obtained by detectives later showed the same man touching himself over his clothes while watching the child, authorities said.
Police said video footage from each date showed Velasquezgomez inside the store.
Velasquezgomez was arraigned Friday before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis on three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, along with three counts of second-degree sexual abuse and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Wilutis ordered him held on $350,000 cash, $950,000 bond, or a $3.5 million partially secured bond. He is due back in court Jan. 14. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
Authorities asked that anyone who believes they or their child may have been victimized is asked to contact the Suffolk County Police Special Victims Section at 631.852.6184.
Top: Mug shot of Velasquezgomez (SCPD) and TJ Maxx (Google Maps street view)
