A suspect was arrested late Friday in the rape of a 12-year-old girl inside a Brooklyn apartment building hours after the girl’s mother told the Daily News she wanted “justice” for her traumatized daughter.
“My baby is in shock,” the victim’s mother told The News in an exclusive interview.
“My daughter is a dancer. She sings. She does hair. She’s only in the seventh grade,” the distraught mom lamented.
“She’s my baby, and my daughter will never be the same,” said the mother, who The News is not naming to protect the victim’s privacy.
“I want justice,” she added.
Police released images of the rape suspect in the hope someone recognized him.
Late Friday, police arrested Eric McMichael, 27, and charged him with multiple counts of rape and sexual abuse, as well as burglary and child endangerment. McMichael lives in Greenpoint, about two miles from the crime scene, according to police.
The child was heading down the stairs in her building on Morgan Ave. and Skillman in East Williamsburg, which is part of NYCHA’s Cooper Park Houses, at around 5:45 p.m. Thursday when the stranger grabbed her, cops said Friday. The assailant told the child he was going to “violate” her, police said.
The stranger was already in the stairwell and quickly overpowered her as she walked past him on her way to a local store.
“I’m going to violate you,” he told the girl as he pushed her to the ground and attacked her, authorities said.
The rapist ran off after the horrific attack, and 911 was called, officials said. EMS rushed the child to an area hospital for treatment. Detectives assigned to the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit were investigating.
Cops scouring for video recovered images of the rapist in a nearby laundromat just before he entered the NYCHA building. At the time, he was sporting dreadlocks and wearing a dark gray sweatshirt, black pants, black-and-white sneakers and a backpack with blue stripes.
The image cops recovered was immediately sent to all NYPD cellphones as the manhunt began.
The NYPD has seen a 17% jump in rapes and sexual assaults across the five boroughs over the past year, officials said.
As of Sunday, detectives in the Special Victims Unit were investigating 1,720 rapes and sexual assaults, 260 more than this time last year.
Police officials said that increase is largely attributable to legislative changes made a year ago that broadened the legal definition of rape in New York State, which now includes additional forms of sexual assault.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
