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Movie viewer sexually assaulted
NDP Greater Tuna July 2015 - Rockdale News IMG 9963

CONYERS - A Walton County teen is behind bars for allegedly sexually assaulting a movie-goer in Conyers.

Walton County resident Saleh Mercer, 19, was arrested Thursday for the incident that occurred around 4 p.m. on July 2 when the 17-year-old victim and her mother went to Carmike Cinemas, 1536 Dogwood Drive, Conyers, to see the newly released Magic Mike XXL.

According to the police report, the girl exited the movie theater while previews were showing to go to the restroom. As she exited the theater, she noticed a "tall, slender" man, Mercer, standing near the door to the theater.

When she returned from the restroom, the man was still standing near the theater door.

"As (the victim) passed, the male stepped in behind he, placed his left hand over her mouth, then placed his right hand in her pants, sticking one of his fingers inside of vagina," the Conyers Police (CPD) officer wrote in the report. "(The victim said that she tried to scream and break free, and the suspect told her to, ‘shut up,' and ‘calm down.'"

The man then released, according to the report, and the victim walked back to her sit without looking back because she was "so scared."

She immediately told her mother about what just took place and she called the police.

Officers were able to spot the teen's attacker just moments before the incident occurred via surveillance video. They saw the man described by the victim enter the theater, and "a minute or two later," he exits the theater and then leaves Carmike Cinemas.

With this evidence, CPD was able to obtain an arrest warrant for the man identified as Mercer. He is currently in the Rockdale County Jail and being charged with aggravated sexual assault.