TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — A Gretna man has been arrested after being accused of raping a 14-year-old child inside a room at the Motel 6 in Tallahassee.
On August 10, the Tallahassee Police Department was called to the Motel 6 on Apalachee Parkway in reference to a possible sexual battery investigation. Court documents indicate that a guest services representative advised that a victim had come forward and said she was raped inside one of the rooms.
When officers spoke to the 14-year-old victim who said that something "sexual" happened inside the room with a man who was no longer at the hotel.
Probable cause documents say a medical exam was completed on the victim before she was interviewed. During the interview, the victim told police that she contacted the suspect, identified as Justin Moore, through social media and asked him to a rent a room for her and her friends.
The victim said that while she and her two juvenile friends were in the room with Moore, he began touching her. The victim said she told Moore to stop, but he continued and sexually assaulted the victim.
According to court documents, the victim told Moore to stop several times during the incident, but he refused. The victim also said that the two juvenile witnesses were also in the room during the assault, "however, the victim advised they did not take any action and may have been under the influence of marijuana."
After the incident, the victim said Moore went to clean himself.
When officers spoke to the juvenile witnesses, investigators wrote that they made some corroborative statements but weren't fully cooperative. However, both witnesses disclosed that the victim told the suspect to "stop it," and said they could smell alcohol coming from Moore, indicating that he may have been intoxicated.
Investigators say they obtained a warrant to search the room and collected items for processing. As they investigated, police confirmed that the room was rented by Moore. In a photographic lineup, documents say the victim was also able to identify Moore as the person who sexually assaulted her.
Days later on August 19, while investigators were speaking with the victim's mother, they were told that Moore tried to contact the victim on Facebook over the weekend. Based on the evidence, police found probable cause to charge Moore with two counts of sexual battery on a victim under 18 and one count of lewd or lascivious exhibition.
He was taken into custody on Friday. As of Monday, he remains in jail on a $35,000 bond.
