NEW YORK — The man arrested Tuesday in connection with the disappearance of a 5-year-old girl in Queens faces multiple charges including kidnapping and criminal sex act, according to police.
Franz Vila, 75, was arrested on charges of kidnapping, criminal sex act and unlawful imprisonment, the New York Police announced Wednesday. Information for the Manhattan man’s attorney was not immediately available.
As he was being escorted out of the police station on Wednesday, Vila called the whole thing a “police stunt”.
The charge comes after the 5-year-old girl was reported missing around 1 p.m. Tuesday after she had not been seen for four hours, police said at the time. Photos of her showed her in a pink floral dress at a Foodtown supermarket on 37th Avenue near 79th Street in Jackson Heights, New York Police said, alongside a 75-year-old man wearing a blue shirt and khaki pants.
Police set up a wide net to find the girl, deploying a bloodhound, drone and helicopter in hopes of finding her. She was located safe and sound just after 4:30 pm around 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, not far from the supermarket where she had last been seen.
Law enforcement sources told our sister network NBC New York that she and the man seen in the security footage were found in transit and that the man is in custody.
After being tracked down, the girl seemed dazed but in a good mood. Upon hearing the news that the girl was safe and sound, her grandmother burst into tears.
Police sources said the man knows the girl’s mother and she allowed him to take her to nearby Travers Park. But when the mother received no response from the two and she couldn’t find them in the park, she reported her daughter missing to the police around 1 p.m.
His mother, Kimberly Pijuan, was facing a charge of acting in a manner detrimental to a child. The Queens district attorney decided Wednesday night to change course and decide not to press charges against the mother of the 5-year-old girl.
Police said the girl was left in the custody of her father.
2023-08-23 20:46:02
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