Detectives picked up a Middle Village man on Thursday for allegedly sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl on an Elmhurst street a week earlier.
Police said Jose Para of 83rd Place allegedly attacked the girl at 7:45 a.m. on June 23 in front of a catering hall on Albion Avenue near Queens Boulevard. He was arrested as a result of an investigation conducted by Detective Danielle Febus of the NYPD Queens Child Abuse Squad.
According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Para walked up to the girl and began speaking to her; neither the suspect nor the victim knew each other. Para allegedly asked her where she went to school and told her that he was 20 years old.
After she replied that she went to middle school and was 11 years of age, prosecutors said, Para allegedly commented on her shirt, then grabbed her right breast. The girl ran off and alerted school officials, who then reported the incident to the 110th Precinct.
Para, whom police sources noted has 21 prior arrests, was charged with first-degree sexual abuse and acting in a manner injurious to a child. He is currently awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court.
“Young children walking to school in broad daylight should not have to worry about a stranger walking up to them and then touching them in an inappropriate way,” Brown said in a statement Friday. He encouraged anyone who believes they may have been abused by Para to call the NYPD Queens Special Victims Squad at 718-520-9277.
Updated July 1, 11:15 a.m.
