A man sexually assaulted a 4-year-old girl in the play area of a McDonald’s located on Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. Investigators are trying to determine whether or not the man is the same suspect who allegedly molested a 9-year-old girl a few months ago.
The 4-year-old preschooler crawled up a tube to get to a slide when she encountered the sex offender. The event occurred around 8:25 p.m. on Tuesday.
The man forced the girl to perform oral sex until she was able to flee down the slide where she told her mom what happened.
The devastated mother begged a security guard for help, but he did nothing as the suspected attempted to flee out and emergency exit.
The exit was locked; therefore the suspected turned around and made a break for the front door. Before he was able to escape, the mother grabbed him; unfortunately the suspect wiggled his way out of her grasp.
All this happened under the eyes of the security officer who continued to do nothing.
Although the security guard told cops he saw nothing and questioned the mother’s credibility, video showed the suspect walking into the fast-food restaurant at 6:45. The video also showed the man walk into the play area where he hid until he was able to prey on the child at 8:25.
The mother described the suspect as being in his late teens or early 20s. He was last seen wearing a brown or dark purple short-sleeved Polo shirt, jeans, and white sneakers. He also has a lump or bandage on his forehead.
Police are trying to connect this incident to a similar incident that occurred March 9th around 3:30. A man waited in the same spot, when he asked a nine-year-old girl to sit on his lap and play a video game as he rubbed her buttocks.
COMMENT:
Does the security guard have a duty to observe? Does the guard have an obligation to hold someone who has been identified as a perpetrator of some crime? Does the guard have a duty, on behalf of McDonalds, to make sure the kids who play in their playset are safe and free from harm?
If the answers to any of those questions are "Yes," then the guard and the guard's employer (likely McDonalds) would be held responsible for the harm and losses the little girl and her mom suffered.
