Stranger charged with sexually assaulting young girl in Columbia restaurant bathroom
A man wanted in Florida for crimes against children is accused of sexually assaulting a young girl in the restroom of a Columbia restaurant this week, authorities said.
James McKenzie, 43, allegedly followed a child between the ages of 9 and 11 into the bathroom of a Decker Boulevard restaurant Monday night, trapped her in a corner and assaulted her, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
McKenzie, who has prior arrests in Florida, Orangeburg County and Columbia for similar offenses, was charged Monday with criminal sexual conduct with a minor, kidnapping and indecent exposure, the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
Court records show McKenzie pled guilty to indecent exposure in Richland County earlier this year and was sentenced to time served. He was denied bond following his latest arrest and booked at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, records show.
The sheriff’s department said surveillance video from a restaurant in the 2600 block of Decker Boulevard showed a man later identified as McKenzie watching the child, who had been at the restaurant dining with her family, before following her toward the women’s restroom.
According to an incident report, the footage showed the man force closed an outer door that led to the bathrooms just as the child was making her way into the women’s room.
The man was seen on camera exiting the restroom area less than two minutes later and immediately leaving the restaurant with a drink cup in his hand, the sheriff’s department said.
With the help of the restaurant’s owner, who pointed deputies in the direction of McKenzie’s travel, police found him a short time later hiding in bushes behind an abandoned building in the vicinity of Decker Boulevard and O’Neil Court.
He was wearing the same clothing observed in the surveillance footage and still had the drink cup in his possession, according to a police report.
McKenzie allegedly confessed to the assault shortly after being taken into custody, and was observed engaging in lewd behavior while detained for interviewing, the sheriff’s department said.