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Summary

A Pittsburgh-area mall Easter photo event became a criminal case after police said a New Jersey man groped a woman working inside an Easter Bunny costume at South Hills Village Mall. The suspect was identified as Shivakrishna Bera, 36, whose driver’s license listed a Jersey City, New Jersey address, according to The Smoking Gun. Police said Bera approached the Easter Bunny photo area while the costumed performer was posing with children and families, then began asking questions about who was inside the costume.

The incident occurred on March 23, 2026, at approximately 3:20 p.m., according to the criminal complaint. Upper St. Clair police responded to South Hills Village Mall for a report of indecent assault. When officers arrived, they found the victim and a witness in a back office at the mall. The victim told police that she was working as the Easter Bunny and taking photos when Bera approached and began questioning her. She reportedly redirected his questions to an assistant, but police said he continued engaging with her.

According to The Smoking Gun and CBS Pittsburgh, the assistant told police Bera asked about the person inside the costume, including whether the performer was male or female. The victim reported that Bera touched her arm, then touched the top of her chest, and then grabbed her breasts through the costume. Police also said Bera placed his fingers into the nose and mouth openings of the Easter Bunny costume head. The allegations turned what was supposed to be a family-friendly seasonal display into a criminal complaint about unwanted sexual contact.

Mall security footage became important to the investigation. The criminal complaint said South Hills Village Mall security reviewed camera footage from the Easter Bunny display area and provided officers with information and a photo of the suspect. Police said the footage showed the man touching the costume head multiple times and making contact with the chest area of the costume. Officers were then told the suspect had gone into the AMC Theater connected to or near the mall.

Officers later found a man matching the suspect description asleep in the top row of a theater. The complaint said officers showed theater staff a photo of the suspect, and staff believed the man might be in Theater 8. Officers located him sleeping there and escorted him out. He was detained, identified by a New Jersey driver’s license as Shivakrishna Bera, and taken into custody.

The police complaint described several statements Bera allegedly made after he was detained. While seated in a patrol car, he reportedly said that if he had not watched a movie there, he would not have been caught. When police asked him about the Easter Bunny incident after Miranda warnings, he allegedly asked whether it was a doll. When told a person was inside the costume, Bera reportedly said his hand touched her by mistake if the person inside was a woman.

The Smoking Gun reported that, while at the local police station, Bera gave a more direct explanation for the touching. According to police, he said he touched the bunny costume to test whether the breasts were real or fake. That statement, if accurately reported in court documents, became one of the strangest and most damaging details in the probable-cause narrative. It also undercut the idea that the contact was merely accidental, though Bera is still presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Bera was charged with indecent assault and harassment. Pennsylvania’s indecent assault statute covers indecent contact without the complainant’s consent, among other circumstances. Pennsylvania’s harassment statute covers physical contact or attempts to subject another person to physical contact when done with intent to harass, annoy or alarm. In this case, the criminal complaint and reporting describe the alleged contact as unwanted touching of a costumed worker’s arm, chest and breasts, along with interference with the costume head.

The Smoking Gun reported that Bera was held on $10,000 bail and had an April 2 preliminary hearing scheduled. The available sources reviewed for this article did not confirm a conviction, plea, dismissal, or final sentence. Because the case was reported at the charging stage, it should be written as an allegation. The victim was an adult woman working inside a costume, not a mascot prop, and the alleged conduct was reported as an assault on the person wearing the costume.

The case drew attention because of the unsettling contrast between the setting and the allegation. Easter Bunny photo stations are designed for children, family pictures, pastel decorations and mall-season nostalgia. Police said the incident instead involved a stranger questioning the performer’s identity, touching the costume and then allegedly grabbing the woman’s breasts. The bright mall display turned into a police report with the emotional texture of cotton candy left in a filing cabinet.

For workers who perform inside character costumes, the case highlights a basic workplace-safety issue. A costume can create the illusion of distance between the public and the person inside it. But the performer is still a worker with bodily autonomy. Touching a costume in an intimate area can still mean touching the person inside it. That distinction sits at the center of this case: police said Bera framed the costume as if it were a doll or prop, while investigators treated the alleged conduct as unlawful contact with a human being.

Section 1: The Crime

The alleged crime was indecent assault and harassment. Police said Bera approached the South Hills Village Mall Easter Bunny photo area while a woman inside the costume was posing for pictures with families. The victim said Bera began asking questions, and when she referred him to her assistant, he allegedly continued engaging with her directly.

The victim told police that Bera touched her arm, touched the top of her chest and grabbed her breasts through the costume. A witness also told officers that Bera put his fingers into the nose and mouth area of the costume head. Mall security footage reportedly showed the suspect touching the costume head and making contact with the chest area of the costume.

Important wording note: This case should be described as an alleged assault on the person inside the costume, not as someone merely touching a prop. Police said the victim was a woman working as the Easter Bunny performer.

Section 2: Crime Location

The incident occurred at South Hills Village Mall, a Pittsburgh-area shopping center in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The police complaint and news reports identify the mall as the location of the Easter Bunny photo display. The suspect was later found in an AMC Theater near or connected to the mall after security and police reviewed footage and circulated a suspect photo.

Section 3: Date And Time Of Crime

The criminal complaint listed the incident date as March 23, 2026. Police said Upper St. Clair officers responded at approximately 1520 hours, or about 3:20 p.m., for a report of indecent assault at South Hills Village Mall. The Smoking Gun published its report on March 27, 2026.

Section 4: Police Department

The case was handled by the Upper St. Clair Police Department. The complaint was written by an officer employed by the Township of Upper St. Clair and assigned to patrol. The Upper St. Clair Police Department lists 911 and 412-833-7500 for emergency dispatch, and 412-833-1113 for police administration or non-emergency contact during business hours.

Section 5: Suspect Name

The suspect was identified as Shivakrishna Bera. The Smoking Gun reported that his driver’s license carried a Jersey City, New Jersey address. CBS Pittsburgh identified him as a 36-year-old New Jersey man, while News 12 described him as a Jersey City man facing charges connected to the South Hills Village Mall incident.

Section 6: Suspect Age

Bera was reported to be 36 years old at the time of the March 2026 arrest.

Section 7: Charges

Bera was charged with indecent assault and harassment, according to The Smoking Gun. The indecent-assault allegation centers on the reported unwanted contact with the costumed performer’s chest and breasts. The harassment allegation is tied to the alleged unwanted physical contact and conduct that police said served no legitimate purpose.

Pennsylvania’s harassment statute states that a person commits harassment when, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person, the person strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects the other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same. Pennsylvania’s indecent-assault statute covers indecent contact without consent, among other circumstances.

Section 8: Bond Amount

The Smoking Gun reported that Bera was locked up on $10,000 bail ahead of an April 2 preliminary hearing. The available sources reviewed for this article did not confirm whether bail was later modified or posted, so any custody update should be checked through Allegheny County court or jail records before publication.

Section 9: Conviction

No conviction was confirmed in the available sources reviewed for this article. The case should be described as an arrest and allegation unless a final court disposition is verified through official court records.

Section 10: Sentence

No final sentence was confirmed in the reviewed sources. For legal context only, Pennsylvania law generally treats indecent assault without consent as a misdemeanor of the second degree, and Pennsylvania sentencing law lists a maximum imprisonment term of two years for a second-degree misdemeanor. Pennsylvania fine law lists a maximum fine of $5,000 for a second-degree misdemeanor. These are possible statutory penalties only, not a confirmed sentence in this case.

Section 11: Outcome

The reported outcome so far is that Bera was arrested, charged with indecent assault and harassment, and held on $10,000 bail ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 2. No final plea, trial verdict, dismissal or sentencing outcome was confirmed in the available sources reviewed. Bera is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

Section 12: Victim

The victim was an adult woman working inside the Easter Bunny costume at the mall’s seasonal photo display. The available sources do not publicly identify her by name, and this article does not name her. The reported allegation is that she was touched on her arm and chest, then grabbed on her breasts, while working in a public family-photo setting.

The case also affected the assistant and mall staff who reported the incident, reviewed footage and helped police locate the suspect. No children were reported as physically harmed in the reviewed sources, though the incident occurred in a family-oriented area where the performer had been taking pictures with children and families.

Why This Case Drew Attention

This case drew attention because it took place in a setting built to feel harmless: a mall Easter Bunny photo display. The alleged conduct, however, was not harmless to the worker inside the costume. Character performers can look oversized, padded and unreal, but the person underneath is still a person. Police said Bera’s own statements showed he was focused on whether the body inside the costume was real, and that question became central to why the story spread so quickly.

The case also shows how mall security footage can turn a confusing public-space incident into a documented investigation. Police said security cameras showed the suspect touching the costume and making contact with the chest area. Security then helped officers trace him to the nearby AMC Theater, where he was reportedly found asleep. The investigation moved quickly because the mall had cameras, staff had a suspect photo and police were able to find the suspect before he left the property.

For readers, the key issue is not the absurdity of the Easter Bunny costume. The core issue is consent. A person working in costume does not give up the right to bodily boundaries. A costume may hide the worker’s face, muffle their voice or make them seem cartoonishly separate from the public, but it does not turn them into an object. That is the quiet, serious center of a case wrapped in pastel fur and courtroom paperwork.

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