Sex Offender Arrested For Assaulting Teen 1 Day After Being Released From Prison
MODESTO (CBS13) - A registered sex offender was arrested Tuesday for sexually assaulting a teen on a public bus in Modesto, only one day after he was released from state prison.
Police say Kevin Michael Long, 37, got on the bus at around 7:30 a.m. on Yosemite Boulevard and attempted to talk with a 15-year-old girl. He then made sexual comments to the girl and allegedly lunged at her and sexually assaulted her.
By the end of his early-morning bus ride, Long was back in handcuffs.
"I've seen that guy and he's, for lack of a better word, a pervert," Chris Brager said.
Modesto police say the 15-year-old girl he's accused of sexually assaulting on the city bus was on her way to school.
"My other friend was on the bus … and said the guy got on the bus, the girl's sitting down and he grabbed all of her privates," Perry Headrick said.
He said three men stepped in and held Long down, stopping the attack.
A good Samaritan witnessing the assault jumped off the bus at 10th and G streets and ran to the police station down the street to let officers know what was happening.
Cops were waiting for Long when the bus rolled in to the transit center.
Police call Long a violent predator. The registered sex offender was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape and indecent exposure.
"I've seen him follow girls one time up Yosemite and I said something," Brager said.
Brager said he recognized Long's mug shot and knew him before Long went to Corcoran State Prison.
"He just tries to take advantage of women whenever he can," Brager said.
It's exactly what investigators say happened Tuesday, saying Long made conversation with the 15-year-old along with unwanted sexual advances before lunging at her.
"I think this guy is a creep and he should be dealt with the way creeps are dealt with," neighbor Stan Winfrey said.
Police are crediting those bus riders for getting involved and stopping the assault and holding Long down until officers could take him into custody just a day after he was paroled.
Long is being held at the Stanislaus County Jail on charges of lewd acts with a minor, sexual battery and violating his parole.
