By The newspaper
Jun 21, 2024, 2:02 PM EDT
Christian Inga, arrested for allegedly tying up, robbing and abusing a 13-year-old girl in front of another minor in a park in Queens (NYC) at knifepoint in broad daylight, confessed to police that he began recording the assault with his phone halfway as he became more “comfortable,” according to prosecutors.
Inga, a 25-year-old undocumented Ecuadorian, was arraigned Wednesday on charges including rape, predatory sexual assault and robbery for the attack that occurred mid-afternoon on Thursday, June 13, in Flushing’s Kissena Corridor Park.
The hearing came after a five-day manhunt with photos displayed throughout the city that ended early Tuesday morning when a group of neighbors recognized Inga and tied him up and beat him before calling the police, outside a warehouse near Waldorn and 108th Sts. in Corona, about 3 miles from the park, he detailed DailyNews.
Inga had a deportation order, had entered through the Texas border with a 3-year-old child in 2021 and was currently living in a migrant shelter near the park, according to the NYPD, which had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
After her arrest on Tuesday, Inga told police she had a drug problem and had seen the victim and her schoolmate, both 13, “having sexual relations,” according to prosecutors. Police officers had previously told reporters that both boys had just finished playing soccer when Inga approached them.
“I had a knife that I found in the park,” Inga told police, according to prosecutors. The children “They gave in because I showed them the knife. “I approached them and told them to shut up.” She then led them off the road to an area of trees, where she tied them with a shoelace and “put a handkerchief over the girl’s mouth and another piece of cloth over the boy’s mouth” to prevent them from screaming.
He then said he used the same knife to cut the girl’s clothes. “At first I was nervous, then I felt comfortable and recorded it,” he confessed to police, according to prosecutors. After raping the girl, Inga stole both of their phones and left.
The victims immediately sought help at a nearby school, where teachers called police, who were able to put together a sketch of the suspect. The NYPD later released surveillance camera photos, which expedited his capture.
“It’s amazing that what (the children) went through, their identification, their memory of the tattoo, the braces… everything was spot on,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said Wednesday.
Following his arraignment on Wednesday, Inga was detained without bail. He faces life in prison if he is convicted, authorities said. All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
According to the NYPD, most rapes remain unreported. In a similar case, in the middle of last month a fifteen-year-old girl fought bravely to avoid being raped by a man who approached her when she was walking through a park in the Bronx (NYC). Days later, a man was arrested on suspicion of repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl he knew over a five-day period inside a building in that same county.
Earlier this month a woman killed her father in Queens (NYC) and when arrested said she had done it because he had abused her and her sister when they were children. Also in May, a 71-year-old pastor was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a fifteen-year-old girl in the basement of a church in Long Island (NY).
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if it is a minor or elderly:
I looked for help
- Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
- Text “WELL” to 65173.
- Review information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org