DA: Teen Arrested, Charged In Connection With 2 Queens Sex Assaults
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Queens District Attorney says a 15-year-old has been charged and arrested in connection with two of sex attacks in Queens.
Police say there have been a total of five attacks in the last four weeks and they are still investigating whether the same teen is connected to the other attacks.
It's not clear if the teen charged is the same person caught by security cameras after an assault outside Queens Village earlier this month, or if he resembles sketches of suspects released by police.
The suspect -- identified only as a Springfield Gardens resident because he is a minor -- was be charged in separate incidents that occurred in the Laurelton section earlier this month. The victims in both attacks were hit in the head.
The teenage suspect has been charged with 2 counts of attempted rape, 1 count of attempted sex abuse, 1 count of sex abuse and assault.
The news of an arrest brought some sense of relief, but many are still somewhat worried.
1010 WINS' Al Jones Reports From Queens
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"I feel relieved if that's actually the culprit, but if not, then still worried because there's still more out there," one woman told 1010 WINS' Al Jones.
Another woman told Jones that she was not surprised the suspect is just 15 years old.
"They have no job, nothing else to do. So they're taking it out...ugh...every time I think about it, I'm so disgusted," she said.
Investigators say security cameras caught a suspect in Queens Village earlier this month right after he attacked a woman.
Watch the surveillance video below:
Each attack took place after dark, beginning Sept. 22 in Queens Village when police say a 44-year-old woman was sexually assaulted while walking home around 1 a.m.
A suspect struck again in Queens Village on Oct. 7, stalking and attacking his victim at 11 p.m. as she walked home. Two days later, police said he pushed a 40-year-old woman to the ground and beat her on 145th Road at 1:15 a.m.
The suspect's last two attacks were in Laurelton. First, police said he followed a 23-year-old woman leaving a bus stop at 11:35 p.m. on October 12.
Four days later, police said he struck again just a block away from the previous attack, hitting a 24-year-old woman on the back of her head before sexually assaulting her.
Victims have helped police come up with several suspect sketches.
Anyone with information should call police or Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS, visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text their tips to 274637(CRIMES), then enter TIP577.
