14-year-old charged after allegedly raping delivery worker in New York
STATEN ISLAND -- A 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged in connection with allegedly raping a delivery worker outside of a city-run apartment complex on Staten Island earlier this month.
The teen was charged with rape, assault, sexual abuse, criminal possession of a firearm, sexual misconduct, forcible touching, menacing and harassment, according to police.
The victim, a 37-year-old woman, was reportedly struck in the face with a firearm and then sexually assulted while making a delivery at Dongan Hills Avenue and Jefferson Street around 6 p.m. on September 9.
Niesha Sosa says the victim was delivering a package of hair products to her apartment at the time of the attack.
"Next thing you know I heard a thump as I was going down on the elevator, I heard a thump, in the hallway," Sosa said.
Sosa said if the elevator was too slow, it could have been her.
"If she would have got on that elevator and I would have waited and it took too long, I would have went down the stairs," Sosa said. "That could have happened to me."
Delivery worker safety has been an issue at NYCHA properties on Staten Island before.
UPS has even changed delivery policies in the past -- keeping drivers in their trucks instead of going inside at some city-run apartment complexes.
Back at the Berry Houses, Sosa and other residents have a simple request that they hope will keep them safe: they want cameras in the building.
It was announced that $1 million in federal funding will go to security upgrades like putting cameras in the building lobby, outside, and in the elevators.
