A registered Atlantic City sex offender accused of trying to lure a 9-year-old girl was released from jail Friday, following an appeal of his detention.
Tom Moran, 63, was arrested Dec. 18, after the girl and her mother ran into him at the Walgreens two days after he allegedly tried to get the girl to come to his vehicle.
The girl was leaving Brown’s Park on Dec. 16, when the man rolled down his window and call to her, according to the report.
The mother screamed at the man in Spanish, and he drove away, she told police.
The incident was not reported until two days later when the girl again ran into the man.
At that time, the girl was alone in an aisle when she saw the man who said something like, “I have to get back to work,” according to the report.
Public defender Yvonne Maher argued at Moran’s detention hearing in December that there was no proof Moran tried to lure the girl, and no allegation he was inappropriate at the Walgreens.
While there were no charges related to the Walgreens interaction, Chief Assistant Prosecutor David Ruffenach said at the time that surveillance video seems to show Moran following the girl as she went to at least three aisles.
The judge held Moran, despite the public safety assessment recommending he be released. The PSA is used to help determine whether a defendant is held pretrial under bail reform.
Defense attorney Louis Barbone successfully appealed that decision, leading to a new detention hearing Friday.
The state then consented to his release with conditions.
Moran is a Megan’s Law offender whose previous convictions include touching a 12-year-old girl’s buttocks at an Acme in 2008, and similar touching to two juvenile girls at Best Buy in 2004.
