Creepiest Stories Involving Mall Santas

#1 Stash Of Inappropriate Photos Of Children

Bad Santa has nothing on 65-year-old Leander Dewey Jones, who in June of 2016 was found to be in possession of child pornography at his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. A number of photos showing children under the age of ten were discovered on his computer by a technician he had hired to fix it, leading to his arrest on three counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

#2 Santa Line Slaying

The event caused further controversy in 2005 when Terrence Howard gave an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show stating that the attack had been racially motivated, though his version of events was later contradicted by Tyrone, who accused his son of using the story to gain publicity. He said: "It wasn't nothing racial that went down. It was two men standing there, both of us acting like damn fools instead of one of us taking the man's role and walking away". Tyrone Howard was convicted of manslaughter and served 11 months in prison.

#3 Elf Groper

In November 2013, Herbert Jones proved himself to be the ultimate creepy Santa when he was arrested for groping the butt of his 18-year-old colleague. Jones, who was working as a mall Santa in Hanover, Massachusetts, allegedly pinched the buttocks of the female teen, who was working as a photographer and dressed as an elf, then told her "I wish you were a few years older and I was younger."

#4 Killed Over Candy

49-year-old Elkin Clarke was working as a mall Santa in Atlanta in December 2004, when he severely beat 74-year-old Annie Nelson with a 2-by-4 board. The pair were selling chocolates when according to Clarke, he became enraged when the elderly Christian evangelist stole 29 boxes of Hershey's chocolates from him, though police said no witnesses could support this claim. "She was stealing my stuff," Clarke said of the incident. "I asked [her] ten to fifteen times not to touch my stuff."

According to witnesses Clarke struck Nelson over the head, and then hit her twice more while she was lying unconscious on the floor. Witness Aisha Albritton then tried to help the old woman, to which Clarke threatened her with the wooden board. Nelson died of her injuries six weeks later. Clarke was convicted of malice murder as well as simple assault of Albritton. His conviction was upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2013.

#5 Child Killing

On December 2, 1989, Debra Jean Milke's 4-year-old son Christopher was taken to see Santa at the Metrocenter mall in Phoenix, by her roommate James Styers. Later that afternoon Styers called Milke and told her that the little boy had gone missing. A search got underway, and Styers was questioned by the police, along with his friend Roger Scott. After nearly 15 hours of police questioning, Scott cracked. He confessed he knew where the boy was, and gave them directions to his dead body. He had been shot three times in the back of the head.

#6 Attempted Abduction

Proving that creeps operate in every season, the Burnaby RCMP issued a warning to parents in December 2000 after a little boy was nearly abducted while at a Santa Claus display. The three-year-old was enjoying the festivities at the Loughheed Mall in Burnaby Canada, when a man tried to convince him to lure him away using the promise of seeing Santa.

According to police constable Phil Reid, the man targeted the youngster after he got off of the Christmas train. He explained: "A male suspect approached the victim, asking if he wanted to see Santa. Now the victim who was obviously excited to see Santa, said yes. The suspect immediately placed his arm around him to lead him away, and this was all within earshot of the mother, who immediately saw the incident and began to make a commotion." The man then ran away from the scene, and was unfortunately never identified.

#7 Sexual Predator

Given that 56-year-old Stephen Caruthers had worked as a mall Santa for 13 years in Central Pennsylvania, it came as a huge shock to the local community when it was revealed he had been sexually abusing a young girl over a period of eight years. The victim told a family member that Caruthers had molested her between the ages of 4 and 12, when she visited his home.

#8 Murder at Santa’s Grotto

Though the next story doesn't technically involve a mall Santa, it is one of the most shocking cases of murder during the Christmas season. 26-year-old Rebecca Johnson and her boyfriend, 35-year-old Radek Kovac, both from Scotland, were working as temporary tour guides at Santa's grotto in Kuttanen, Finland in December 2016. However, the adventure turned out to be short lived, when Rebecca was found stabbed at the Santa Safari park where they were working. She later died from her injuries.

After a police manhunt in difficult sub-zero conditions, Radek Kovac was found, and was suffering from hypothermia at that point. It is alleged that he stabbed Rebecca during an argument, and then fled the grotto with his dogs. He later appeared in court in Finland charged with murder, with authorities stating that although he was being co-operative, he had not specified a motive for the killing.

#9 “I Was Satan, Not Santa”

72-year-old Ronald Carroll McDonald may have worked as a mall Santa for many years and volunteered as a child-care worker at his local hospital, but he was also leading a disturbing double life. In 1998 he was sentenced to the maximum prison sentence of 26 1/2 years for child r*pe and molestation. His own son asked the judge to give him the maximum sentence. It was revealed that McDonald had abused children, all under the age of 11, over a period of 60 years, and amassed at least 45 young victims during that time.

#10 Christmas Mall Shooting

In 2012, 22-year-old Jacob Tyler Roberts went on a shooting rampage at an Oregon mall during the holiday season. Using a stolen gun, Roberts randomly opened fire, killing a 54-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man and wounding several others. His body was later discovered by police down a corridor, having turned the gun on himself. Roberts entered the store wearing a hockey mask and according to witnesses, shouted "I am the shooter" before opening fire.