A Wake Forest mother is pleading with parents to keep their children close after her young daughter had a frightening encounter at Walmart on Friday.
Wake Forest police arrested and charged Raymond Mancini, 63, of Wake Forest with felony indecent liberties with a child and felony second-degree kidnapping. That charge was upgraded in court on Monday to first-degree kidnapping.
Holly Hage said she, her husband, and their two daughters, ages seven and 11, decided to make a quick trip to the Walmart on Main Street in Wake Forest around 9:30 p.m.
While looking at the Instant Pots, Hage said Mancini, who they do not know, appeared in the aisle and made her feel uncomfortable enough to tell her youngest daughter to come closer.
Minutes later, Hage said that while her 11-year-old daughter was farther down the aisle looking at candles, Mancini reappeared next to her, but neither parent noticed.
She said while they and other shoppers were in the aisle, only several feet away, Mancini tried pulling down her daughter’s shorts.
“He approached her, pulled the front of her pants trying to pull them off,” Hage said. “And he said, ‘I’m sorry I have to.’ No you don’t have to, no. It’s disgusting.”
Hage said she looked up and saw Mancini when her daughter screamed for her.
“I saw him put his hands up like this and said, ‘Ok I’m leaving now,'” she said.
Hage said Mancini then walked away and after her daughter told her what happened, Hage flagged down an employee.
The girl and her father then walked the store, searching for Mancini, but could not find him.
Hage said several minutes passed before the store manager told her she would need to call 911.
Wake Forest police reviewed the surveillance footage and about 24 hours later, arrested Mancini at his home in Youngsville.
“The kidnapping charge stemmed from the fact the subject impeded the juvenile’s ability to get away,” said Bill Crabtree, spokesperson for the Wake Forest Police Dept.
“I can’t sleep,” said Hage. “The inside of my body is like shaking. I’m-she is having trouble sleeping. She doesn’t want to sleep in her own room. She doesn’t want to go to stores. I don’t want to go to stores. I don’t feel safe.”
Hage said she’s disappointed that Walmart did not seem to have a protocol in place to respond quickly to the incident, which delayed the ability for police to respond quickly.
ABC11 contacted the store, but did not get a response.
“This can happen,” said Hage. “This did happen. So keep your kids close.”
In court Monday, Mark Stevens, Wake County District Court Judge, raised his bond to $250,000 and ordered him to stay away from all Walmart properties.
Steven also ordered a mental evaluation for Mancini whom prosecutors said tried harming himself when police showed up at his home to arrest him.
