Canton man accused of assaulting 14-year-old who missed the bus
Man accused of assaulting 14-year-old who missed the bus
A 42-year-old man is being held without bond after high-tech license plate readers helped detectives track down a suspect accused of luring a missing teenager into his truck and sexually assaulting her.
CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. - A 42-year-old man is being held without bond after high-tech license plate readers helped detectives track down a suspect accused of luring a missing teenager into his truck and sexually assaulting her.
Cherokee County police arrest suspect
What we know:
A 14-year-old girl missed her school bus on Aug. 21 and tried walking to school along Hickory Road, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.
A man driving a large truck pulled over, coaxed her inside under the pretense of offering a ride, and took her to a location in Canton where he sexually assaulted her before dropping her off near her school, deputies said.
After the assault, deputies said the teenager ran inside her school and immediately reported what happened to school police.
Detectives with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Real Time Intelligence Center then used automated license plate reader technology to match the victim's description of the truck.
Investigators executed a search warrant at the suspect's home Thursday morning and arrested Raymond Sookram, 42, of Canton.
He is charged with aggravated child molestation, trafficking a person for sexual servitude and interference with custody, according to the sheriff's office.
Sookram remains in custody at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center without bond.
Detectives have not announced a formal court date for his preliminary hearing.
Canton community reacts to neighborhood arrest
What they're saying:
Neighbors expressed shock over the arrest of a man who was well-known in the community for his home remodeling business.
"It's very much a family neighborhood, so it gives everyone cause for concern," neighbor Brannon McCoy said, calling the incident "just a horrible thing to have happened to a young girl."
"We've used him for home repairs, so it's a little concerning," another neighbor added. "We always have to take precautions everywhere we can."
Cherokee Sheriff's officials emphasized that the incident was a rare "stranger-on-stranger" situation for the area and expressed relief at getting the man off the streets.
What we don't know:
Officials have not released the specific location in Canton where the alleged assault occurred. Authorities have also not made public the exact license plate details or make and model of the truck captured by the surveillance cameras.
The Source: Information for this report was gathered from official statements and interviews provided by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, including Capt. Jay Baker, as well as reporting from FOX 5's Denise Dillon, who spoke with local residents in the Canton neighborhood.