HOUSTON – The Houston Police Department is asking the public for help in its investigation into a child indecency case at a Target store.
The incident happened inside the men's bathroom at the store in the 6800 block of West F.M. 1960 on May 13.
A 9-year-old boy told police a man entered his bathroom stall and touched him inappropriately. The boy ran out of the restroom and hid under a water fountain near the restrooms until his mother came out of the women's restroom. He then told her what happened.
"And he touched my son as well in the restroom and then he told my son to just act like it never happened. And then my son just immediately ran out the restroom and hit underneath the water fountain, put his head down, until me and his siblings came out of the women's restroom," the mother said.
The mother believes they were followed inside the store.
"He saw him looking into the crack of the restroom stall and then, at that point, my son's shorts are down to his knees. And then the male started to shake the stall to get into the stall," the mother said. "And then he put his hand underneath the stall and to reach at my son and then my son stepped on the man's hand."
She said her son crawled under the stall dividers, his pants still down, trying to get away. She said that's when the man touched her son and forced her son to touch the man.
Target is working with investigators and the company has said their top priority is keeping everyone safe.
Houston police have released surveillance photos of a person of interest whom they would like to question.
Anyone with information on the person of interest in this case is urged to contact the HPD Special Victims Division at 713-894-1971 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.