By Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN – Police arrested a man on charges he repeatedly groped an 11-year-old girl as she shopped with her mom at the JC Penney store in Herald Square.
Nikolaos Willmore, 44, of Morningside Heights, allegedly followed the girl around the Sixth Avenue store at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, grabbing her repeatedly, police said.
The girl told her mother, who chased Willmore out of the Manhattan Mall store, police said.
Willmore was arrested Monday and charged with sex abuse on a child under 14 and endangering the welfare of a child. Police reportedly identified him using security footage from the store.
He has a history of prior arrests, including for assault, harassment and criminal mischief last year, the Daily News reported.
Willmore’s Facebook page reportedly brags that he has a PhD from Columbia and his scientific research appears on the university’s website.
