KEY POINTS

  • The suspect was seen lurking around a school
  • The police said he used two dogs to lure girls 
  • The authorities have requested the public to help locate the accused

An alleged child predator has reportedly been using his dogs to lure young girls into an apartment in Brooklyn.

Brandon Rodriguez, 25, is wanted in connection with at least three such incidents, including the molestation of a 13-year-old girl. Rodriguez was identified by an acquaintance, reported NY Daily.

On May 24, Rodriguez approached the 13-year-old girl at around 7.40 a.m. near Osborn Street and Pitkin Ave., and asked her to take a picture of him with his dog. He then led the girl inside an apartment building and touched her inappropriately, the police said, NY Daily reported.

The suspect allegedly prevented the girl from escaping by taking away her backpack and positioning the dog near the doorway. Rodriguez, however, fled the scene once the girl started yelling for her friends.

The man is said to have tried the same method twice afterward.

The next day, at around 7.10 a.m. on Christopher Ave., he approached a 12-year-old girl and asked her to take a picture of him with his dog. An hour later, near Watkins St. and Pitkin Ave., he tried to lure an 11-year-old with the same scheme. Both the girls fled once he tried to take them inside a building. Officials said Rodriguez has been using two dogs, a small pup and a husky, to lure the teenagers.

Rodriguez remained at large, and was last seen wearing a black hooded sweater and black pants, reported NY Post. The police described him as about 5 feet, 5 inches tall, with braided hair.

Surveillance footage released by the police showed Rodriguez lurking around a school near where the incidents happened, with his husky on a leash. The NYPD is asking people to help locate the suspect.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

With the opening of restaurants and shops around the city, NYC reported a 322% increase in sexual assault cases compared to the same time last year, reported the New York Post.

“In the past month we have seen a steady increase in the number of victims going to hospitals for sexual assault care,” said Christopher Bromson, executive director of the Crime Victims Treatment Center in Manhattan.

The police could not say if the relaxation of restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic led to the increase in assaults, NY Post reported.

Molestation
A video showing a minor girl being molested by eight men in the outskirts of Jehanabad in Bihar, India, went viral on social media. In this photo, an Indian school student's shadow falls on a banner during an awareness Campaign against Child Sex Abuse (CSA) in Hyderabad, Nov. 19, 2014. Getty Images/ NOAH SEELAM
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