A Pembroke Pines man with a history of sexual battery allegations is facing new charges. Local 10 reports that 35-year-old Hunter Nicholas Hines was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 13-year-old in the bathroom of Miami-Dade's Dolphin Mall on January 4.
This incident unfolds while Hines remains out on bond for a previous charge petaining to a 14-year-old victim in Indian River County from 2022. According to an arrest warrant, the teen reported that Hines forced them into sexual acts after meeting on the app Grindr. This latest accusation suggests a troubling pattern of predatory behavior.
As detailed by CBS News Miami, the Miami-Dade Police investigator involved obtained security video footage from the mall indicating a man matching Hines' description who can be seen entering and leaving the bathroom around the time of the alleged assault. The teenager was able to positively identify Hines as the assailant after law enforcement ran his image through databases and presented a photo lineup to the victim.
Hines was subsequently booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and is currently awaiting the setting of his bond. The impact of these allegations extends to Hines' open case in Indian River County, where an affidavit details that on November 7, 2022, a 14-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome accused Hines of sexual battery. A victims' advocate and the deputy later met with the boy and his mother, who explained that she had gone shopping and returned to find her son not acting himself.
The Indian River County Sheriff's office connected DNA samples to Hines, providing a demoralizing link to the assaults.
