Man arrested for sexual abuse at local church

ALABAMA
Lagniappe

By: JASON JOHNSON

Authorities say an unknown man entered a church on Tunstall Street in Mobile on Sunday and attempted to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl.

Police say the the encounter started when the man asked the girl for a hug, but after the contact continued, the pastor of Stone Street Baptist Church and the girl’s parents were alerted.

When authorities arrived on the scene, they arrested 64-year-old Roderick Mitchell and charged him with second-degree sexual abuse and a separate charge listed in jail records only as a “violation.”

Mitchell’s name did not show up in a search of Mobile County’s sex offender database, but he does have multiple previous charges for “public lewdness” or “indecent exposure,” according to Mobile Metro Jail records.

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