Serial groping suspect free in Christmas Tree Lane area
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Women in Central Fresno and the Tower District are on alert for a man who's been inappropriately grabbing strangers. Police arrested 27-year-old Andre Horn in September, but victims say it didn't stop him.
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UPDATE via Corin Hoggard: Police said he groped another woman on Wednesday, she followed him and called police. He was arrested.
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The first victim thought it might've been an isolated incident until she started hearing stories of similar attacks last week. Now, she's leading the way in putting an end to the groping trouble before it gets worse.
In broad daylight, in a busy Tower District parking lot, Kelsey Duncanson walked up to a Redbox and returned the first of three movies. As her five-year-old son watched from the car, Duncanson's day took a turn for the worse.
"As I'm waiting to return the second one, somebody comes up behind me and shoves me into the Redbox machine and gropes me," she said.
She bucked the man off her, threw the leftover DVDs at him and watched as he walked away. A witness followed the man and police arrested him about a mile and a half away, on Van Ness in a Central Fresno neighborhood. But the crime of sexual battery is a misdemeanor and Andre Horn walked away with just a ticket. Two months later, police believe Horn grabbed two more victims he found just walking or running down Van Ness. Investigators are concerned his crimes could escalate, but unless they do, there's not much police can do to get him off the streets, no matter how many people he gropes.
"We're just going to arrest him and keep booking him and it's going to be up to the justice system to take care of him," said Fresno police Lt. Joe Gomez.
Horn lives not far away and his family told an Action News reporter he's not always right in the head. In fact, he has two prior convictions -- for elder abuse and battery in 2009 - and court records show he was briefly found mentally incompetent.
Police say Duncanson is doing the right thing by talking about what happened and warning neighbors on Facebook.
"I just want him to stop," she said. "I want him out of our neighborhood. I want to feel safe walking during the day again and I want the women and children of the neighborhood to feel the same way."
Late Tuesday afternoon, police got a warrant to arrest Horn on the newer cases, but even after they arrest him, they expect him to be free again soon.
Officers say women need to keep an eye out, especially on a night like Tuesday when so many people will be walking Christmas Tree Lane in the area Horn frequents. They also believe there may be more victims who haven't reported similar crimes.
Police want any victims or witnesses to these crimes to contact sexual assault unit detective Michael Sweeten at (559)621-2479.
