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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Boy, 10, sexually assaulted in SW Philly

Update: Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore says a suspect has now been charged in this horrific sexual assault case. The offender is Walter Vicks, 19. Vanore says cops were called to 56th Street for a "report of a person screaming." Vicks fled the property when police arrived, but was captured a few blocks later.

Vick allegedly forced the 10-year-old boy off his bike and assaulted him inside the rowhouse at knifepoint. The knife was found at the scene, in addition to other evidence, which included some of the boy's clothing, the Daily News learned earlier tonight.  

A 10-year-old boy claimed he was pulled off his bike in Southwest Philly earlier today, dragged into a house and sexually assaulted, police say.

The attack happened shortly before 1:40 p.m. on 56th Street near Springfield Avenue. Police arrived at the scene a short while later and took a 19-year-old man into custody, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman. The young man has not yet been charged with any offenses.The boy was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for treatment, but his condition is unknown.

 
Posted by David Gambacorta @ 5:13 PM  Permalink | 8 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:12 PM, 03/26/2009
    Why wasn't the ten-year-old in school?
    — phillyreform
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:50 PM, 03/26/2009
    Obviously wasn't riding his bike fast enough
    — HarryBalzonya
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:55 PM, 03/26/2009
    Because there were report card conferences and early dismissal at the elementary schools.
    — rms
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:59 PM, 03/26/2009
    The elementary and middle schools have half days Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for report card conferences. Stop assuming the worst. There are good kids in this city.
    — teachinphilly
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:40 PM, 03/26/2009
    teachinphilly: Who said there weren't good kids in the city? It's a logical first question given the facts including the time of day of the event. Here's a news flash: Not everyone is out to blame the school teachers. In light of this, maybe three days of conferences where the youngsters are unsupervised all over the city might need to be reexamined.
    — phillyreform
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:16 PM, 03/26/2009
    I said that you were out to get the school teachers? Go back and read my comment. I could care less whether you judge what I do, because you have no idea.
    — teachinphilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:32 PM, 03/26/2009
    teachinphilly: Wrong again, I do have an idea -- 20+ years teaching in the system including voluntarily transferring into schools that some would consider the worst in the city. So I know first hand how good the kids are (and for the most part, they are). How many years do you have in the system? So again, the original comment wasn't a shot at the kids, based on the time of day it was a normal first response. (Come to think of it, since the kid is 10 years old, wouldn't the original comment have been a shot at the parents?)
    — phillyreform


8 comments
About The PhillyConfidential team

Dana DiFilippo has covered murder, mayhem and miscellany at the Daily News since 2000. She grew up in Delaware County and studied journalism and photography at Penn State University. E-mail tips to difilid@phillynews.com.

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Stephanie Farr has been reporting for the Daily News since 2007, covering everything from gay porn stars who entered the burglary business to moon trees, skinheads, murders and naked bike rides. She covers crime, both in the city and suburbs, and keeps clippings of bizarre Associated Press articles. Her favorite this year was the story about the drunk in Punxsutawney who gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dead opossum. E-mail tips to farrs@phillynews.com.

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Phillip Lucas joined the Daily News crime team in 2011. He grew up on the mean streets of Seattle and studied journalism and psychology at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Before landing in the City of Brotherly Love, Phillip was a reporter for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. Email tips to lucasp@phillynews.com.

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Morgan Zalot is the newest crime reporter at the Daily News, starting in 2011 after interning at the paper twice as a Temple University journalism student. In her past stints at the DN, she covered just about everything, from drunken Phillies fans to a barber shop in a high school to a grisly murder-suicide. She’s a born-and-raised Philly girl who grew up in the Northeast. E-mail tips to zalotm@philly.com.

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