Teen nearly abducted from Willow Grove Park Mall faces suspect in court
The victim took the witness stand and detailed the incident during the suspect's preliminary hearing on Tuesday.
JENKINTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A suspect who allegedly attempted to abduct a teenage girl from a mall in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania appeared in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.
The victim took the witness stand during the hearing and detailed the incident.
Khalil Evans, 44, was charged with unlawful imprisonment of a minor, a second-degree felony, for the incident that happened on July 12 at the Willow Grove Park Mall.
In the courtroom, the teen says she had been momentarily separated from her friends around 7 p.m. and spotted Evans as she was on an escalator going down.
She alleges that Evans waited for her at the bottom and told her to walk with him.
"Today she got up on the stand, faced the defendant, same person who had held her against her will, and looked him in the eye and said exactly what happened to her," said Assistant District Attorney Caroline Goldstein.
The teen testified that said Evans told her he was 25 and his name was Alex. She responded that she was underage, but said he had gripped her arm.
"She's 14. She was incredibly smart during this interaction despite how scary it was. She managed to record this individual, the defendant. She told him she was 13 indicating to him that she is a child," said Goldstein.
RELATED: Suspect in attempted abduction of teen at Willow Grove Park Mall surrenders to police
Police say as Evans and victim approached the exit, she was able to get away and scream. The teen then said she called mall security and then her mom.
Investigators say at that point Evans, and another man who has not been charged in this case, left the mall.
Lawyers for Evans tried to get the case dismissed saying the interaction was not long enough to justify a false imprisonment charge, but the judge did not agree.
"There's no set time limit for that. No matter how long somebody is held against their will, it's substantial," said Goldstein.
Evan's family was in the courtroom as well. They declined to comment and so did his lawyers.
An arraignment is set for October 4.
