Manhunt on after 13-year-old boy sexually assaulted in the Bronx
SOUNDVIEW, the Bronx (PIX11) — He went outside to do a simple household chore, but the 13-year-old boy ended up being attacked and sexually assaulted in the Bronx. Now, police are on the hunt for a suspect, and neighbors are on edge about what happened, as well as being angry and disgusted with the suspect.
Those emotions pale in comparison, though, with the intensity with which local residents sympathize with the boy who was targeted.
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Marlene Gayle lives in the Monroe Houses, near Taylor and Story avenues, where the crimes took place .
"I felt sorry for him, I felt so sorry for him," she said. "I feel so bad for him."
Police said that the teen had gone to take out the trash at around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday. While he was out, said investigators, he was grabbed by a man, pulled into a stairwell, and was sexually assaulted. The boy has been taken to a local hospital.
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Meanwhile, people in the neighborhood said they are angry and disturbed.
"That's a baby," said Ulysses Jenkins, who lives in a building at the intersection. "[He's] still trying to make it in the world."
Other residents of the public housing complex said that each floor has a garbage chute that tenants can use, but that larger garbage bags don't easily fit in. As a result, the larger bags require residents to drop them off outside. Residents said that that may be what happened in this case, when the boy was assaulted.
"Shocking," said Juan Ortiz, who lives in the complex. "I've got a 10-year-old, and it's shocking to just hear of it."
Neighbors said that police regularly patrol in and around the complex. For its part, the NYPD says its special victims' unit is investigating, with detectives looking for a man who's 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with a slim build, wearing blue and black jeans.
People who live in the area want him behind bars, fast. In the meantime, said Jenkins, one of the neighbors here, "I feel like crying. And I feel for the family."
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org , downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
