An Ecuadorian migrant was arrested Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in a secluded part of a vast Queens park, according to sources.
The migrant, who sources believe entered the country in 2021, was arrested after he allegedly held the girl and a 13-year-old boy at knifepoint with a “machete-style” blade before carrying out his sickening, broad-daylight act inside Kissena Park on Thursday afternoon.
The suspect approached the pair and forced them into a secluded area of the Flushing Meadows park. He then tied their wrists with shoelaces before he molested the girl, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny previously said.
The monster then took away both teen’s phones and told them to stay put for 20 minutes after he fled, cops said.
Following the assault, the traumatized children ran to their nearby school where they alerted staffers, who called 911.
The brazen, broad daylight attack set off a massive manhunt for the perv and led to a heavy police presence in the park for days while nearby residents waited on edge.
“Everybody is tense since the news because we all have small children that are playing here, and it happened in the day,” father Alankar Ngar told The Post over the weekend.
The park is typically full of children and students from nearby schools, like the two victims.
The NYPD had allocated more than 60 investigators for the manhunt in what they called an “all hands” effort.
“I want [the community] to rest assured that we will spare no expense. We will use every investigative resource and, again, implore the help of the community to help us bring closure for these young children and for this family,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a Friday briefing on the crime.
The arrest comes after the NYPD blasted out images and footage of the young man they were looking for on Monday night. The department was also offering a $10,000 award for information leading to an arrest.
“New Yorkers, we need your help in tracking down this monster who held a child at knife point and sexually assaulted her in Kissena Park,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Operations Kaz Daughtry said in a post on X alongside the footage.
Charges against the suspect are pending.
