CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief Rodney Monroe was visibly upset Wednesday evening as he described the suspect accused of raping a 12-year-old girl as she walked to her school bus on Wednesday morning.Police charged Marcus Kennedy, 28, a convicted sex offender.
"These repeat offenders, continue to be out here, engage in illegal conduct, and it gets no worse than what we've experience today," said CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe.
"Mr. Kennedy himself, and I don't think we can lose track of this. He is the monster in this," said Monroe.
Officers said the incident happened on Dalecrest Drive in north Charlotte around 8:16 a.m. after the girl got off a city bus. They said the child, a sixth-grader at James Martin Middle School, had recently moved and had to take the city bus to get to her old Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus stop. Police said they believe the suspect, Marcus Kennedy, followed her off the city bus.
Gerardo Campos, a maintenance worker at a nearby apartment complex, said he saw the girl walking toward the bus stop. He said a moment later he saw a man grab her around her neck, and heard the girl scream, “Help!”
Campos said as he ran to her aid, the man took off. He said he and a van driver followed the suspect as he ran through yards.
Campos said after losing sight of the man momentarily, he caught him and held onto him until officers arrived.
Kennedy is charged with first-degree rape on a victim younger than 13 and first-degree kidnapping. He has been on the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry for nearly six years.
Kennedy has been arrested 12 times over the last three years.
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