Former Highland employee charged with grooming teen, stealing city property
A 44-year-old Alhambra man is facing felony charges over allegations that he groomed a 16-year-old girl while he was employed by the city of Highland.
Clayton W. Moore is accused of talking about wanting to meet up, sharing a shirtless photo of himself and asking the teenager for “sexy” photos through the messaging app Snapchat on or about April 12-16. According to court records, she attended an after-prom party at his house where they drank alcohol together.
They allegedly exchanged more than 1,000 messages over the course of four days after the party.
Moore is also accused of stealing government property around the time those charges were filed.
He was charged with grooming and solicitation to meet a child, Class 4 felonies, on May 14 and subsequently charged with theft, a Class 3 felony, on May 15.
The theft charge accuses Moore of stealing between $500 and $10,000 worth of city of Highland tools, cameras, cables, switches, routers and a vehicle jack on or about May 14.
Moore was a service technician for Highland Communication Services, a government-owned telecommunications company. He was fired on May 8, according to Highland City Manager Chris Conrad.
Moore has entered a plea of not guilty to the grooming and solicitation charges. A Madison County judge ruled he could be released from jail until his trial.
David Fahrenkamp, Moore’s attorney, didn’t immediately respond to an email and phone call requesting further comment Monday.
Grooming investigation begins with parents’ report
Law enforcement began investigating on April 16 when the 16-year-old girl’s parents contacted the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.
They reported their daughter told them Moore was coming to her workplace to meet her and that he had been sending her messages since she attended the party at his house, according to the prosecution’s summary of the investigation in a court filing.
The document states that the parents went to their daughter’s workplace and saw Moore in the parking lot while she was working inside.
In an interview with investigators, the teenager said she sent Snapchat messages and photos to Moore on the night of the party and that he continued messaging her the next day, which included talking about coming to pick her up and calling her “sexy” and “beautiful.”
Moore’s wife said in an interview with investigators that he told her he knew he shouldn’t have been sending the messages to the 16-year-old, according to the court filing.
Defendant will be released from jail until trial
Madison County Associate Judge A. Ryan Jumper ordered Moore to be released from jail until his trial with conditions, including that he appear in court, not commit any crimes and continue to comply with an order of protection to have no contact with the 16-year-old girl.
A court assessment determined Moore’s risk of failure to appear and rearrest is low. His only risk factor was another charge in his criminal history check: a misdemeanor underage drinking ticket from when he was 19 years old.
But the risk assessment was considered incomplete because Moore refused to answer two of its eight questions: whether he was unemployed at the time of his arrest and whether he had a history of drug abuse.
In his reasoning for the decision to release Moore from jail, Jumper cited Moore’s low risk assessment score and lack of a significant criminal history. He stated that Moore has been subject to a no-contact order since April and has followed the order.
Jumper also noted in his order that the minor in the case will turn 17 years old this month.
State law considers 17 to be the earliest age someone can be considered an adult capable of consenting to engage in sexual conduct.
