New York City police said Wednesday that a man is facing two counts of sexual assault, one count of aggravated child abuse and one count each of robbery, burglary and criminal possession of a weapon after police say he attacked, beat and stole a young girl and three other young boys from a New York train station.
Police spokesman Sgt. Robert Boyce said that 19-year-old Daniel Rizzo is charged with two counts each of rape and aggravated child sexual abuse.
He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail at a Manhattan courthouse.
He was released on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Friday.
Police say Rizzos two accomplices are also facing charges.
Boyce says the attack happened Sunday night near the New York-New Jersey border and the suspects entered the station from a train that departed the station, then attacked, grabbed the victims, then stole a small package containing $100 in cash from the station’s safe.
The two suspects then stole two more packages from the safe, Boyce told reporters.
Police believe the packages were being used by the two suspects to transport money to an address in Manhattan.
Police also say the two men also fled in a white SUV that was stopped at a traffic light near the station and the car was later found abandoned in the woods.
Investigators say they’re trying to determine if the packages have been used as weapons.
The New York Police Department has said it will not release more information about the case until it is completed.
The case comes on the heels of a string of sexual assaults that have rocked the New Jersey town of Seaside Heights over the last year.
Last year, a 16-year old girl was attacked and sexually assaulted on a subway train, but the assault was never solved.
Authorities say a 22-year long-running investigation into child sex abuse is now being reopened.
Police were searching for the two teens who allegedly attacked and stole the packages, Boyces said.
He said detectives were working to track down the suspects in the case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
