MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 25-year-old man is behind bars after he allegedly grabbed an 11-year-old boy around the neck and exposed himself.
The incident happened Saturday evening at the Wolfchase Galleria mall.
According to police, Robert Collier grabbed the boy around the neck while he was trying to leave the bathroom. The child was able to push the man away, but was prevented from reaching the door.
That’s when Collier allegedly pulled down his pants and exposed himself. He then grabbed the child’s hand and tried to force the boy to touch him.
The child’s mother — who was outside the bathroom — heard her son scream “stop” and rushed to his aid.
“He called me last night and wanted me to bail him out. I told him I didn’t have the money to bail him out,” Collier’s mother, Allison Collier, said.
The 25-year-old is looking at $150,000 bond. Still, she says she can’t believe the charges leveled against him when she sees his mugshot.
“It’s real hard. That’s not my son. He didn’t do that. He didn’t do it,” she said.
We asked her about the details in her son’s arrest ticket. She says her son denies all of it.
“He said, ‘ Mama, I ain’t done anything like that. They’re accusing me of things that I don’t understand.”
She says her son was spending an average day at the mall shopping with a friend and does not know the boy involved.
Collier was arrested and charged with indecent exposure, attempted especially aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated sexual battery.