18-year-old charged with sexual abuse of female Hoover jogger

An 18-year-old Shelby County man has been charged with sexual abuse of a woman while she jogged on a Hoover trail earlier this month, Hoover police said today.

An adult female was jogging on a paved trail between the Maple Trace subdivision and Hoover High School around 12:30 p.m. on March 5 when a man she didn't know approached her, police said.

The man was also jogging and attempted to befriend the woman Capt. Gregg Rector said. After they reached a secluded area on the trail, the man reportedly grabbed the victim, “forcibly kissing and groping her in a sexual manner.”

The woman reportedly kicked the suspect and ran for help. Detectives identified the suspect as 18-year-old Christopher Michael Tate and obtained a warrant on March 10. Tate surrendered at the Jefferson County Jail in Bessemer on March 11.

He was charged with first-degree sexual abuse, and his bond was set at $15,000.