HIALEAH, FL. A., — man who Hialeah police say took videos of young children in department stores has been accused of similar charges.
Out of work chiropractor Jonathan Davis turned himself in to authorities late Friday night and posted bail shortly after being charged with aggravated stalking of a minor under 16.
Davis was arrested in May on charges of committing a lewd act at a Hialeah K-Mart store.
Police obtained a warrant for Davis’ cell phone and say videos stored on the phone show him seeking out girls younger than 12, and videotaping them.
Hialeah police provided an edited surveillance video and cell phone audio recordings of Davis at a Burlington Coat Factory in Hialeah to CBS 4 News.
Police say the audio recordings show a man desperate to catch the attention of the children, using catcalls and laughter to entice them and win their trust.
All the while, police say Davis touched himself inappropriately, using a ruse that he was “itchy” to elicit help from the youths.
Hialeah police said the case began because an alert security guard at the Burlington Coat Factory noticed Davis recording children in the store at the end of March. The surveillance video shows store cameras zooming in and out on Davis as he roamed the store.
Mendigutia says Davis got just inches away from some children who were with their parents.
“In some cases I could actually see that a parent was holding a child by the hand,” Mendigutia said. “In some cases the parent was 5 feet from their child.”
Police say Davis appeared to be on the prowl, crouching down in store aisles and hiding behind merchandise — all in an effort to surreptitiously take video of girls as young 5, while touching himself.
And the audio recordings add another creepy element to this case. Police say Davis used a series of catcalls to get the kids’ attention — making a “psst” noise and saying “Ouch!”
Police say Davis also tried to get the girls to go with him to a different part of the store.
“He’s saying things like ‘Where’s the toy section? I have a little niece. Can you help find this? What size shoe are you?’ ” Mendigutia said.
Investigators do not believe any children went with Davis but they continue to investigate the case.
Police do believe Davis did this at numerous stores.
Police say “The parents that were close to their kids, he couldn’t go that next step,” Mendigutia said. “The parent was too close by. So staying close to your children is always going to be the safest thing to do.”
According to the clerk’s office in Iredell County in North Carolina, Davis pleaded no contest to three counts of indecent exposure in 2007. A copy of a police report reveals that Davis was accused of exposing himself to several people – including a 15-year-old — at a park. The clerk’s office tells CBS 4 that Davis was sentenced to 2 years of supervised probation, told to pay court costs and ordered to stay out of parks and playgrounds.
If you believe your child may have encountered Davis, call Hialeah police at (305) 863-5353