Sex offender accused of abducting, raping 9-year-old Farmington Hills girl in his mother's Detroit home
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A man with a history of sex crimes is facing charges after he allegedly abducted a Farmington Hills girl and raped her at his mother's Detroit home.
Aaron McDonald, 40, of Oak Park, is accused of luring the 9-year-old child into his Jeep as she walked in the area of Grand River and 8 Mile in Farmington Hills on Sunday afternoon.
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He is accused of trying to sexually assault her in his vehicle but she fought back. That's when he took her to Detroit, police said.
Neighbors said McDonald's mother was out of town so he brought the child to her home near 8 Mile and Berg, where he allegedly strangled and sexually assaulted her.
Aaron McDonald (Photo: MDOC)
The girl was eventually able to escape the home and ran away with a blanket. A neighbor saw her and called 911.
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It took collaborative efforts between the Detroit Police Department, Farmington Hills Police Department, FBI, and other departments to arrest McDonald. Police said they surveilled him 24/7 up until his arrest Thursday.
McDonald was released from prison in May after serving 16 years of a 30-year max sentence for two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He is now facing abduction, criminal sexual conduct, strangulation, and torture charges.
"My worry, and I don’t like casting aspersions, but my God if you know that this particular individual had that type of propensity after just being released for this type of thing, why would you give him an opportunity?" said neighbor John Johnson.
FOX 2 reached out to McDonald's mother for comment but she did not respond.
Police said this case gives parents a reason to talk to their children about people who may prey on them.
"Everyone of my kids got a talking to. Every single one of them. My nephew, my niece, every one of them. The officers that I’m friends with and people I’m friends with, I warned them to talk to their kids. It’s a terrible reminder that we have to do that but we have to be vigilant about protecting not only ourselves, our community, especially our kids," said Farmington Hills Police Chief Jeff King.