A man accused of harassing two girls in a downtown Little Rock park has pleaded not guilty weeks after a post on social media showing one of the children's mothers confronting him went viral.
Cedric Chandler Byrd, 32, of North Little Rock was arrested Wednesday and later released on his own recognizance, a spokeswoman at the Pulaski County jail said.
Byrd faces two misdemeanor counts of harassment, according to filings in Little Rock District Court. He entered a not-guilty plea Thursday on the charges and is set to appear in court again for trial July 27.
Teresa Sturch, 47, of Heber Springs told officers that a man "was apparently filming" her 12-year-old daughter and her daughter's 13-year-old friend while they were in River Market Park, 100 Ottenheimer Plaza, on May 10. She said he also asked them if they wanted to get ice cream.
In a Facebook post that had been shared more than 4,500 times as of Monday, Sturch wrote that she let the two girls walk around the park as she waited at a bench nearby.
Shortly before 5 p.m., the girls reportedly sprinted back and told her to “get out of there.”
When Sturch asked them what happened, the girls told her that a man asked them several questions, including if they “were from around there,” and then insisted that they should get ice cream with him, the affidavit states.
“When [Sturch] inquired as to why he was talking to the girls he told her it was research for some type of cosmic inversion investigation he was working on,” the affidavit states.
When confronted by an officer about the allegations, the man — who was later identified by authorities as Byrd — said that he was "shooting a documentary about astrology and its influences on people," a police report states.
The officer noted that he told the man that his actions could be seen as voyeuristic and as sexual harassment.
According to authorities, Byrd was observed videotaping two women licking ice cream cones earlier that same week. He was also accused of recording girls playing volleyball in the River Market Pavilion in 2017.
On May 31, the two girls and the 12-year-old’s mother spoke again with police. Two of the three separately identified Byrd from a six-person lineup, and an arrest warrant was filed Wednesday.
Sturch previously told Arkansas Online that she did not expect the man to be arrested but that she posted about what happened on Facebook to make others aware of potential dangers.
"I've discussed scenarios like this before with my child, but I don't think she thought it could happen to her," Sturch said. "I just hope all parents will be vigilant and start a conversation with their children about it."
