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Man Charged With Inappropriately Touching 13-Year-Old Girl In Walmart

HOOKSETT, NH (CBS) - A New Hampshire mother is speaking out about an alarming encounter in a Hooksett Walmart. She says her 13-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted right in front of her.

"I was standing three feet away from her and he grabbed her," said Heidi Biron.

She was at the self-checkout with her three teenage daughters when she says 21-year-old Arthur Vigeant of Concord, New Hampshire brazenly approached from behind.

When the assault was over, Biron says he ran back into the store and that's when she sounded the alert. "I was yelling 'this man just assaulted my 13-year-old daughter, please help', over and over."

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Arthur Vigeant (Photo Courtesy: Hooksett Police Department)

The commotion was enough to grab the attention of store employees and customers. By the time police arrived they gave a good description and the suspect who had run out of the store and was cornered in the parking lot.

"It undermines your feeling of safety, that's our biggest loss in this," Biron said.

It was a brief encounter, but it's left a lasting impression on the family. Heidi Biron says her independent daughters are feeling a little less so because of it.

"We wanted to speak out and let people know this can happen so easily and so close to home," she said.

Vigeant is out on $5,000.00 bail, leaving Biron to wonder if it could happen again.

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