Ecuadorean migrant Christian Inga was indicted by a Queens grand jury and is now criminally charged with predatory sexual assault, rape in the first degree and numerous other crimes for a June attack on a 13-year-old girl and her friend in Kissena Corridor Park.
Inga, 25, who was living in a boarding house on Waldron Street in Corona, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Thursday morning on a 16-count indictment charging him with two counts of criminal sexual act in the second degree, two counts of kidnapping in the second degree, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and robbery.
According to the indictment and investigation, at around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 13, Inga approached two children, both 13, inside the Flushing park and allegedly pulled out a machete-style knife and threatened the girl and boy, instructing them to go into a wooded area with him.
Once in the isolated area, Inga allegedly bound the youngsters’ wrists together with a shoestring and stuffed a cloth into the girl’s mouth and another piece of cloth into the boy’s mouth. Inga then allegedly proceeded to rape and otherwise sexually assault the girl while her friend was forced to watch the attack. Before fleeing the park, Inga allegedly took both victims’ cell phones.
“This was a daytime nightmare for two children who were simply enjoying a day in the park after school,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “The defendant is accused of raping the girl after threatening the youngsters with a knife, forcing them into a wooded area and gagging them.”
The children gave a detailed description of Inga to law enforcement, and the NYPD distributed flyers showing Inga and a distinctive tattoo of a boar’s head on his chest. After a citywide manhunt, he was spotted on the night of June 18 at a bodega on Waldron Avenue near 108th Street in Corona, and nearly a dozen neighborhood residents beat him and held him until police from the 110th Precinct arrived on the scene and took him into custody.
Inga crossed into the United States illegally at Eagle Pass, Texas, in June 2021, according to the NYPD. Following his beatdown and arrest, Inga told investigators that he had recorded part of the sexual assault of the young girl and told detectives that he has a drug problem, according to prosecutors.
“These children gave a detailed description of their alleged attacker, and thanks to community members and the NYPD, Christian Inga was arrested after an intensive manhunt,” Katz said. “The defendant is now charged with predatory sexual assault — one of the highest charges available in New York state — and will now face justice in our courts.”
Inga has been remanded into custody without bail since his initial court appearance. Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant continued remand and ordered Inga to return to court on Nov. 12. If convicted, Inga faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
