An ice cream truck driver was arrested after a 10-year-old girl accused him of kidnapping her. However, the guy has been released.
Jonathan Castro, aged 20, was taken into custody on Sunday after meeting the girl who reportedly posed as a grownup online and had been speaking to him for a week.
The girl informed her mom that Castro had attempted to kidnap her. But police later stated her allegations were not true.
Though she was ten years old, the girl told Castro that she was 18 and seemed mature for her age.
Castro drove his ice cream truck to pick her up on Sunday afternoon in the Mariner’s Harbor community of Staten Island, New York. He then moved them to Union Avenue and Richmond Terrace.
At that point, the girl reportedly decided she did not need to be in the ice cream truck, and the two had an issue that triggered a bystander to call the cops.
Castro dropped the girl off and went to Mama Rosario’s pizzeria for a slice.
Then, the girl informed the mom that she had been kidnapped. The mom called 911,
The pizzeria manager said that Castro was a regular customer and that he saw him get arrested there.
Castro was charged with acting in a way harmful to a child and tried sexual abuse and assault.
But police did not agree with the fact the girl said that she was kidnapped and ended up freeing Castro, who did not have previous arrests on his record.
‘It’s a large misunderstanding,’ Castro mon Janet said. ‘I’m a firm believer that the truth goes to prevail.’
The Staten Island District Attorney’s office did not say whether or not it might prosecute or drop the case on Castro.
