July 31, 2024 By Bill Parry
Detectives from the Queens Special Victims Squad arrested a Long Island City man on Saturday, July 13 for sexually assaulting two girls while he worked as a counselor for the city’s Police Athletic League in Jamaica.
Aaron Gafur, 27, from 10th Street at the Queensbridge Houses, was booked at the 113th Precinct in Jamaica, where he was charged with two counts each of sexual conduct against a child and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
Gafur was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court the following day, accused of sexually assaulting the girls at the Edward Byrne Center on Guy R. Brewer Blvd. and other locations multiple times from September 2017 to February 2018, according to the criminal complaint.
The victims were 14 and 13 years old at the time, police said. On one occasion, Gafur is alleged to have pulled one of the victims onto his lap and rocked her back and forth, asking if it felt good, according to the criminal complaint. He then touched her buttocks over her clothes with his hands, stood behind her and pressed his penis on her rear end over her clothing.
On other occasions, Gafur allegedly rubbed one of his victim’s vagina underneath her clothing with his hands, he touched her breasts underneath her clothes with his hands, stood behind her and pressed his penis onto her buttocks over her clothing, according to the criminal complaint.
Bail at arraignment was set at $50,000 cash, $50,000 insurance bond, or $150,000 partially secured bond with 10% paid, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
The Queens Special Victims Squad is asking any other victims to come forward by calling the NYPD’s Sex Crimes Hotline at 1-212-267-RAPE (7273).
Anyone with information regarding the investigation is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.