MEMPHIS, Tenn. — For the first time, we are hearing from the girlfriend of a man linked to a series of rapes and abductions involving children in South Memphis.
The woman is sharing her story as we learn more about who this man is. She is still trying to wrap her mind around the reality. She said she had no idea that he was using her grandmother’s car to allegedly prey on children until she saw it on the news.
New video shows the moments officers arrested the man accused of targeting several children in South Memphis.
Laderio Gordon, 29, is now charged with kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old girl as she was walking to school near Ethlyn and Silver in mid-April.
We spoke to his girlfriend who was shocked to learn about the allegations from the news.
“This is all crazy to me because he’s been with me everyday. So, I was trying to see how he even had the time to do all this,” the woman said.
According to this arrest affidavit, Gordon ordered the girl to get into his car and perform oral sex. The vehicle police were on the hunt for belonging to his girlfriend’s grandmother.
“I’m still in disbelief,” the woman said. “It was given to me to help me and he was allegedly out doing all this.”
She says she started dating Gordon about 10 months ago while she was pregnant. She said Gordon is a father himself.
“He don’t even play that with his son…if his son was somewhere he would ask him has anybody touched him wrong in any way. So, I don’t see him doing that to nobody,” the woman said.
WREG dug into Gordon’s criminal history, and it shows a pattern of domestic violence arrests, with one involving this woman.
In January, police responded to an apartment complex where he allegedly beat her while she was 7 months pregnant at the time. Those charges were later dismissed.
“You live, you learn. I was young and dumb. He just like I said, has a lot of problems going on within himself,” the woman said.
In 2017, police say he punched the mother of one of his children in the face several times.
“I have always told him that he has to think beyond the moment cause he has a little girl himself and would you feel if somebody did this to her,” the woman said.
Gordon is also facing a weapons charge. Police said he may face additional charges for preying on the other children.
Gordon is due in court on Monday.