After hooking up with a 10-year-old girl who had pretended to be an adult online, a Staten Island ice cream truck driver was first jailed and then freed.
Jonathan Castro, 20, was detained on Sunday and is now facing charges of assault, attempted sexual abuse, and endangering a child.
Police subsequently established that the girl’s claims to her mother that Castro had attempted to remove her were untrue.
They said that despite being just 10, the child seemed to be 18.
After a week of online communication, Castro and the girl decided to meet up on Sunday.
Castro was informed by the girl that she was 18 and that she had a mature appearance for her age, according to reports.
Around 4:40 p.m., he picked her up in his ice cream truck in the Mariner’s Harbor district.
The two then proceeded to drive to Union Avenue and Richmond Terrace when the girl changed her mind and requested to be let out of the vehicle.
When the two started arguing, a bystander saw and phoned the police.
The youngster claimed to have been kidnapped, but authorities do not think that to be the case, according to what she informed her mother.
After dropping off the child, the driver of the ice cream truck proceeded to Mama Rosario’s Pizzeria on Forest Avenue next to Amity Place, where he purchased a piece of pizza and a Coke, according to a worker at the restaurant.
He is consistent. He is known to my employees. The manager said, “He’s a thin child.” We saw cops interacting with him before they were apprehended.
According to reports, Castro has never been arrested in New York before.
There is a big misunderstanding. His mother Janet Castro told the MailOnline, “I’m a staunch believer that the truth is going to win.
Now it’s up to the Staten Island District Attorney’s office to determine whether to pursue the case or not.
Requests for information on the case were not immediately responded to by the prosecutor.