Newport News, Va. - "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it." A Newport News mom says she is shocked and angry after learning Melvin Lamont Randall Sr., 44, was arrested in York County Saturday. He was charged with taking indecent liberties with a seven-year-old girl.
The woman says her daughter was victimized by the same man years ago.
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"Unfortunately, this little 7-year-old girl's life is ruined, and I can say that because I've been through the situation with my daughter," the woman told NewsChannel 3. We are not identifying her in order to protect her daughter.
The woman says eight years ago when her daughter was ten, Randall took her and some other kids to the movies. He was their church's youth minister at the time at Faith Alive Outreach Ministries in Williamsburg.
"They were at Kiln Creek movie theater, watching 'Veggie Tales,' and there wasn't a lot of seats, so he told my daughter to sit on his lap, and that's when the sexual assault took place on my daughter."
NewsChannel 3 has confirmed that Randall was charged in Williamsburg in 2006 with aggravated sexual battery, but the charge was dropped because of a jurisdictional issue. Since children's names are not released in connection to crimes, we cannot confirm that this was the same case, though.
Randall was also arrested for sexual battery in Newport News around the same time for a case also involving a ten-year-old girl. The Newport News mom tells us the victim was a friend of her daughter's who was also involved in the church.
The charges in that case were dismissed. Court clerks could not say why and we're still waiting to hear back from the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
In the recent case, Randall was charged Saturday in York County for indecent liberties.
Deputies say they found him next to a car on Old York-Hampton Highway and saw the girl putting her clothes on in the back seat.
According to a criminal complaint, the girl told an investigator Randall took off all her clothes and "hugged her" and it's not the first time something like this has happened.
NewsChannel 3 also found a "GoFundMe" page that appears to have been posted by Randall several years ago.
It said that Randall and his wife were raising money to support their work with the foster care system in Newport News and they had adopted three kids.
According to the listing, no money was actually raised.
NewsChannel 3 was unable to reach anyone with Human Services to confirm the information, but the mom we spoke with says Randall had been a foster parent at one time.
Randall is currently being held in the Va. Peninsula Regional Jail. He denied our request for an interview.
