Berkeley man charged with sex crimes against teenage girl
AC Transit surveillance footage corroborated the girl's account of what happened, according to Berkeley police.
A man who touched a teenage girl under her clothing at a bus stop in Berkeley has been charged with misdemeanor sex crimes, according to court papers.
The 15-year-old girl said she was waiting for the bus after leaving Berkeley High on March 21 when the man approached her and pulled her into the bus stop shelter against her will at 5 p.m., Berkeley police sex crimes investigators wrote in charging papers.
Inside the shelter, the man grabbed the girl's buttocks and touched her abdomen under her shirt, police wrote.
The girl told the man she had to go to the bathroom and was able to escape to safety, police wrote.
Read more about sex crimes in Berkeley.
AC Transit surveillance footage corroborated the girl's account of what happened, according to Berkeley police.
Police were able to identify the suspect due to prior contacts with law enforcement and other details the girl shared.
On March 26, police arrested Lawrence Williams, a 70-year-old Berkeley resident, after getting a no-bail warrant related to kidnapping for sexual purposes.
During the police interview, Williams "admitted that he did put his hands on the victim's waist area and may have unintentionally touched her buttocks," police wrote.
Lawrence Williams. BPD
Last week, the Alameda County district attorney's office charged Williams with three misdemeanors: sexual battery by restraint, child molesting and false imprisonment.
He was ordered to stay 100 yards away from Berkeley High School.
His bail was reduced to $5,000 and he is no longer in custody.
Williams is now set for a jury trial April 22, according to court records online.
During his arrest, police also searched Williams' cellphone and found a video "of what appears to be Williams using his cell phone to record up the skirt of an apparent underage female" on the downtown Berkeley BART escalator, police wrote.
That case remains under investigation.
Read more about public safety in downtown Berkeley and other Berkeley neighborhoods.
