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VOL. 109, NO. 40 MAY 3 — 9, 2018
Sex assault suspect
is no-show at his
verdict
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
A Middle Village man failed
to show up in court on
Monday morning to hear a
jury decide his fate, according to
Queens District Attorney Richard
A. Brown.
Jose Para, 37, of 83rd Place was
convicted on April 30 of fi rst-degree
sexual assault and endangering the
welfare of a child for molesting a
young girl on her way to school in
Elmhurst nearly two years ago.
Brown, however, noted that Para
was a no-show when the jurors returned
from deliberations; Queens
Supreme Court Justice Richard
Buchter, who presided over the
weeklong trial, issued a bench
warrant for his immediate arrest.
As the Ridgewood Times went to
press on Wednesday, Para was still
nowhere to be found.
Prosecutors said that Para approached
the then-11-year-old girl
on Albion Avenue near Queens
Boulevard just before 8 a.m. on
June 23, 2016, as she was walking to
school; the two did not know to each
other. He engaged in a conversation
with her, then commented on her
shirt and grabbed her right breast.
Police said the girl ran away from
Para and, upon arriving at her
school, informed school offi cials of
the attack. Following an investigation,
the NYPD Queens Child Abuse
Squad arrested Para a week later.
When he is sentenced, Para faces
up to seven years in prison, Brown
added.
Anyone who knows where Para
is should call Crime Stoppers at
800-577-TIPS; all calls are kept
confi dential.
NO RELIEF
Local pols rail over lack of property tax cuts
in mayor’s $89 billion budget
See Page 4
Photo by Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo
Offi ce
SINCE 1908
M line back
to normal -
with delays
See Page 3
Threat hits
Glendale
school
See Page 8
Enjoy a weekend of festivals in Ridgewood and Glendale: See Page 19
link
