COMMERCE, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say a Georgia man who has been indicted on 31 counts related to child molestation charges may have also victimized children while earlier living in Memphis, Tennessee.
Steven “Mike” Michael Blackmon was booked into jail last month after he was indicted on the charges in Jackson County, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta.
Commerce police officers discovered that Blackmon may have victimized children while he lived in Memphis in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Blackmon owned a shop at the now-demolished Mall of Memphis called “Hockey Stop Memphis” on the second floor above the ice rink. He also went by the last name Blaekman then.
Blackmon also coached a youth hockey league.
Commerce police tell WMC-TV that a former Memphis resident contacted them to say he was molested too. Investigators are now talking with other possible victims.
The indictment against Blackmon lists acts of child molestation involving fondling, sodomy and taking photos and videos. Investigators say one victim as young as 8 years old.
Commerce police say Blackmon met alleged victims through a baseball team. Police say he had snacks for boys and had four wheelers and a batting cage at his home.
Blackmon was arrested in 1992 in Huntsville, Alabama, for second-degree sexual abuse.
He moved to the Memphis area and left around 2002 after being questioned about possible inappropriate contact with children.
Commerce police say Blackmon worked in Iraq for a supply contractor, reporting he was fired for inappropriate conduct.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation asks anyone who may have been abused to contact them at 404-270-8870.
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