A 31-year-old man arrested for groping a 14-year-old girl at Dolphin Mall was allowed to leave jail with no bond Wednesday.
A judge granted Kevin McDonald's release during his first court appearance on misdemeanor battery charges. McDonald was ordered to appear at the next court hearing or face getting arrested.
"I am like a very good person. I'm not no bad guy," McDonald told the judge at Wednesday's hearing.
On Tuesday, the 31-year-old was captured as he ran from security guards after grabbing a teen girl's buttocks, police said. The victim was with her family shopping at the mall, but left them and walked into a store by herself. She told Sweetwater police that McDonald was watching her, then came up behind her and groped her.
While the 31-year-old has no prior convictions, he does have a prior arrest. In 2014, he was arrested by Davie Police after he showed up at a Starbucks to meet with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl he met on Facebook. Detectives posed as the girl after the teen's father discovered McDonald chatting online with his daughter. Davie Police said McDonald sent lewd photos to the girl's Facebook account.
In 2016, a mental health evaluation showed McDonald to be intellectually disabled and mentally ill. A judge then sent him to a treatment program and banned him from having contact with children.
Misdemeanor Battery carries a penalty of up to a year in jail or probation and a fine.
