Man who allegedly took photos up teen girls’ skirts in Aspen Monday held on $50,000 cash bond

A District Court judge ordered a male stripper from Oklahoma to be held on a $50,000 cash-only bond Tuesday after he allegedly stalked two young girls and seriously hurt a 9-year-old boy when he ran from police the day before.

However, Stephen Moore, 22, told District Judge Gail Nichols he had no plans to bond out of jail “because I’m going to be seeking help for this.”

Moore first came to the attention of police about 7:10 p.m. Tuesday, when a caller told them about seeing a man walk past two young girls near Boogie’s, 534 E. Cooper Ave., “and took pictures up their skirts,” according to an arrest warrant.

The 14-year-old and 15-year-old girls told police Moore had been following them repeatedly throughout the day, including around noon and after lunch. Their account was later confirmed by witnesses, the warrant states. At one point, the girls had to run away from Moore and were upset by his actions.

An Aspen police officer and a Pitkin County Sheriff’s deputy found Moore on the Hyman Avenue Mall, where he told them he hadn’t taken any photos but admitted tapping one of the girls on the shoulder and asking how old they were, the warrant states.

When the girls said they were 14, he told police that was too young and he walked away. The officers asked to see the most recent photos on his phone and Moore was, at first, evasive before admitting, “I was taking photos of girls’ butts,” the warrant states.

“But there’s nothing illegal about that,” Moore told police. “Aspen’s full of so many beautiful women.”

Moore denied taking pictures up the girls’ skirts, according to the warrant.

The officers then placed Moore in handcuffs, and one of them went to throw away the ice cream cone Moore had been eating. As the officer was walking back to Moore, he saw him take out his cell phone and touch the screen in what the officer thought was an attempt to remove incriminating photos or video, the warrant states.

“At this point, Moore suddenly spun around and sprinted away from me,” the officer wrote in the warrant. Both the officer and the deputy chased him and saw him crash hard into the 9-year-old boy, who was pushed violently into the ground face first. The boy was later taken to Aspen Valley Hospital with several broken teeth, a laceration to his forehead that required stitches and a possible broken wrist, according to the warrant.

Moore, meanwhile, kept running.

“Though Moore was in handcuffs, it should be noted that he is in excellent physical condition and managed to gain a great deal of space in between (the deputy) and I,” the officer wrote in the warrant.

The officers finally cornered him in an alley behind the Wheeler Opera House, where he told them, “I’m caught and I need help. This confirms it. I have a problem.”

Later at the jail, Moore told the officer, “I’ll show you guys the video I took of those girls.”

Prosecutor Andrea Bryan said Tuesday in court that Moore is also facing charges of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in Kansas from January.

The mother of the 14-year-old Aspen girl, who was in court Tuesday, said her daughter is “traumatized” and “extremely afraid” after the incidents with Moore. She said two couples from Texas saw Moore stalking the girls repeatedly during the day and taking pictures.

She said her daughter told her Moore grabbed her arm at one point and asked her old she was. She said she was 14, the mother said.

“He said, ‘I’m 18. Can I have your phone numbers?’” the mother said. “I feel completely sickened by this.”

Court documents say Moore is a resident of Owasso, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa, and that he is a dancer employed at the “Area 18 Strip Club.” According to an Internet search, an establishment called the “Area 18 Bar and Ultra Lounge” is a gay bar in Tulsa that features male dancers five nights a week.

Laura Luster, owner of Area 18, said Moore worked for her as a dancer off and on for the last few months, but left 2-3 weeks ago.

jauslander@aspentimes.com