Man, 27, 'sexually assaults six-year-old girl in multi-million dollar apartment building in NYC's Gramercy Park after pretending to deliver packages'
A 27-year-old suspect pretending to be a deliveryman has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a young girl inside a high-end apartment building in New York City.
Tashaun Walls, from The Bronx, was arrested last month on nine criminal counts, including attempted rape, predatory sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, unlawful imprisonment of a child and child endangerment.
Walls is accused of preying on a six-year-old girl after she buzzed him into her family's apartment building at East 16th Street and Lexington Avenue in the Gramercy Park section of Manhattan, where units cost a million dollars, at around 7.30pm on November 7.
Tashaun Walls, 27, has been charged with attempted rape, predatory sexual assault and other counts for allegedly attacking a six-year-old girl inside an apartment building in the Gramercy Park section of Manhattan in November (stock photo of Gramercy Park)
The New York City Police Department confirmed the incident to DailyMail.com on Tuesday.
According to court records obtained this week by the New York Daily News, Walls asked the child to help him deliver packages, then grabbed her head and repeatedly forced it toward his crotch as she fought back.
The six-year-old ultimately was able to free herself from Walls' grasp and put some distance between herself and her suspected attacker.
Undaunted, the 27-year-old allegedly grabbed hold of the child a second time, but moments later her mother came out of the family's apartment and called for her.
The six-year-old broke free from her attacker and ran to her mother, while Walls fled, according to the documents.
During an interview with police, the victim was said to have told detectives that Walls ordered her to open her mouth while forcing her head toward his groin.
Police said in an emailed statement that Walls 'displayed his privates' to the child.
Much of the incident was said to have been captured on video, but the NYPD has not made it public, as a spokesperson told DailyMail.com on Tuesday.
Police arrested Walls three days after the brazen attack.
He was arraigned on December 3 and pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. A judge set his bail at $200,000. Walls is due back in court on March 21.
Walls has a lengthy criminal history, which includes previous charges of robbery and resisting arrest.