Franz Vila, who was seen with the child on surveillance video, had been charged with kidnapping, criminal sex act, predatory sex assault against a child and endangering the welfare of a child.
Officials said last Thursday they believe Vila sexually abused the child at his apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
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75-year-old kidnapping suspect led out of police precinct
The 30-year-old mother of the 5-year-old was originally charged with endangering the welfare of a child. However, the Queens District Attorney's Office is declining to prosecute her pending further investigation.
It all unfolded when the child was at a Foodtown Supermarket at 76-10 37th Ave. with her mother around 9 a.m. last week.
The mother told police Vila saw them in the supermarket and said her daughter wanted to go to the park, so she agreed to let the 75-year-old man take her.
Eyewitness News spoke to the mother who said she thought Vila was someone she could trust and that she had met a year ago. She said Vila had spent time with her and her daughter at their home.
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She says she thought they would be back in half an hour or so, never imagining that the man, who is himself a grandfather, would harm her child.
Vila did not return with the girl and they weren't in the park. That's when the mom said she called police around 1 p.m. last Tuesday to report her daughter missing.
An intense search ensued with dozens of officers fanning out across Jackson Heights, equipped with a Bloodhound seen getting a whiff of a pink blanket to follow the scent.
Police said the girl was found after 4:30 p.m. at the subway station at 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, after a good Samaritan flagged down an officer when he saw the child and man on a platform. It was only a few blocks from the supermarket and the park.
Police now believe Vila and the child were returning from Manhattan. He lives in an apartment on East 97th Street.
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The girl is now in the care of her father.
Vila is being held at Riker's Island on a $275,000 bail.
ALSO READ | Family of 4 found dead inside apartment in Manhattan
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