Man Accused of Touching Boy's Genitals at Rockaway Mall Denies Wrongdoing

The Morris County man arrested and jailed for allegedly touching a young boy’s genitals at the Rockaway Mall, then allegedly threatening to cut another less than two weeks later, denied any wrongdoing in an arrest affidavit.

Kyriakos Serghides, 34, of Rockaway, was arrested last week after allegedly attempting to kidnap a 5-year-old boy from the Target Department Store at the Rockaway Mall on Sept. 10, according to Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp.

After his arrest, Serghides was also charged with allegedly touching a boy’s genitals in the bathroom inside the mall in late August, Knapp said.

An arrest affidavit made public Monday reveals how Serghides was arrested and how the allegations came forward.

According to dailyrecord.com, the bathroom where the alleged first incident occurred is located inside the food court area of the mall. The alleged victim told police Serghides used his handand touched the boy’s genitals and then said, “There we go.”

At the Target store, according to the report, Serghides told a 5-year-old boy who was standing alone, “If you say anything I’m going to cut you up,” after the man told the alleged victim he needed to come with him.

When police interviewed Serghides in connection with the alleged incidents last week, they found a pocket knife in the man’s pants waistband, the report said. According to the affidavit, Serghides admitted to speaking with the boy in Target, but only asked to accompany him to customer service and didn’t make any threats, the report said.

Serghides also admitted to being in the bathroom on Aug. 28, but denied touching the child.

Serghides was lodged in Morris County Correctional Facility in lieu of $200,000 bail for each incident, making for a total of $400,000 bail. He was arrested by Rockaway police on July 28 for driving while intoxicated after a minor motor vehicle accident, according to police.

Serghides was charged in Morris County in 2006 with child endangerment, but the charges were administratively dismissed, the dailyrecord.com report said. He pleaded guilty to burglary-related charges in 2003.

He was charged in 2013 with criminal mischiefand possession of marijuana stemming from an incident at a gas station in Madison, and two charges of threats to kill in Essex County in 2011.

In the Rockaway Mall incidents, Serghides was charged with attempted kidnapping, luring, sexual assault, terroristic threats, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Pictured: Kyriakos Serghides in a mugshot stemming from a 2011 incident in Essex County.