An accused serial predator has been arrested for raping and sexually abusing — over the course of eight years — five children and a teen, some of whom he met in Bronx homeless shelters, police said on Saturday.
Stephen Charles, 42, was nabbed Friday and charged with six counts of rape and five counts of predatory sexual abuse against a child, police said.
After meeting his victims inside the city’s shelter system, Charles allegedly abused them between Jan. 1, 2018, and May 5, 2026, at three private residences in the Baychester, Soundview and Morris Heights sections of the Bronx, according to law enforcement.
The victims were boys aged 10, 11, 13 and 16, an 18-year-old man and a 13-year-old girl, authorities said.
Police arrested Charles one day after releasing pictures of him and asking for the public’s help tracking him down.
One of the victims is a relative, police told Gothamist. Charles was arrested in June for assaulting that person, and then one of that person’s friends came forward about abuse involving both of them, Gothamist reported. The status of the June case was not clear Sunday.
His arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court is expected on Monday morning. He is additionally charged with multiple counts of use of a child in a sexual performance and promoting a sexual performance by a child, cops said.
