Philly teen abducted and raped a 12-year-old girl, police say
The 17-year-old stole a car the child's mother had left running with the girl asleep inside while she went into a steak shop, and the teen later attacked the child, police said.
A West Philadelphia teen who police say abducted and raped a 12-year-old girl who was sleeping in the backseat of a car he stole in Hunting Park was arrested Thursday and will be charged with rape and related crimes, police said.
The 17-year-old, whom police did not identify, attacked the child after stealing a 2010 Ford Taurus her mother left with the engine running while she went into Max’s Steaks at Germantown and Erie Avenues just after 9:30 p.m. Saturday, police said.
Around 20 minutes later, police found the girl about a half mile away at Broad Street and Roosevelt Boulevard, after she called for help from an iPad and told police she had been raped, said Capt. Margo Alleyne-Parker, commanding officer of the Special Victims Unit.
On Monday, an automated license plate reader detected the stolen car on the 5400 block of Poplar Street and police found the vehicle, along with items the girl had told police were still inside, Alleyne-Parker said.
Police found the teen’s DNA inside the vehicle, Alleyne-Parker said, and the girl later identified him from a photo.
A spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on whether the teen would be charged as an adult.
The girl, whom Alleyne-Parker described as brave and smart, was recovering well but still dealing with the emotional trauma of the attack, she said.
“It’s just tragic all around,” she said.