MS Coast man convicted of indecent exposure now charged with taking ‘intimate’ photos of minor

Hannah Ruhoff
·2 min read
10

A Moss Point man is facing a first-degree voyeurism charge in Alabama after allegedly photographing a child’s ‘intimate area’, the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release on Wednesday.

Richard Hightower, of Moss Point, was arrested on Monday when deputies from the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and Jackson County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant on his home in Moss Point. Hightower was extradited to Mobile, Alabama.

Earlier this month, Hightower was convicted of indecent exposure for exposing his genitalia to students at the University of South Alabama in April.

For that incident, Hightower was sentenced to serve four months in jail and one year of probation, but was released pending an appeal.

It’s unclear when the incident in which the most recent charges stem from occurred, but the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office found out about an incident where Hightower allegedly photographed a minor in an intimate area after he was convicted of indecent exposure.

According to a release from the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, Hightower has previous felony convictions in Mississippi, but the release did not specify what for.

“Due to his previous felony convictions in the state of Mississippi, Richard Hightower is a habitual offender, and we will fully prosecute the alleged criminal acts,” said Keith Blackwood, Mobile County district attorney, in the release.

According to reporting from AL.com, Hightower previously was found guilty in two other incidents of indecent exposure — one at Samford University in 2008 and another at University of Alabama in 2007 — as well previously faced charges of sexual abuse, attempted sexual abuse and public lewdness.

The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office is seeking additional victims of Richard Hightower in Mobile County, Mississippi or elsewhere. To contact the office, please call the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office Chief Investigator, Don Gomien at 251-574-6681 or dongomien@mobileda.org.