Man held in sex assault of boy
A North Hollywood man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy at gunpoint, police said.
The suspect, identified as Amilcar Duran, 26, was arrested Saturday. He was being held on $1-million bail.
The victim was pulled into a car June 13 as he walked home from Erwin Street Elementary School in Van Nuys, said Mike Lopez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
The boy had run ahead of his baby-sitter, cut through an apartment building parking lot and was out of sight, Lopez said.
He was abducted and driven to another location, where he was sexually assaulted before being released in the 7600 block of Babcock Avenue, Lopez said. A woman found the boy running down the street crying, and he gave her his parents’ phone number. His parents called police.
Several days later, the boy saw his alleged assailant in a North Hollywood market, police said. The suspect left before officers arrived, but he was identified using the boy’s statements and store surveillance video, police said. On Saturday, security personnel at the market recognized the suspect’s car and the sketch image. Police were notified, and the suspect was taken into custody, Lopez said.
Detectives are awaiting DNA test results, Lopez said.
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