Police: Teen raped by man met on MySpace
A 13-year-old West Islip girl climbed out of her bathroom window and into the Jeep of a 20-year-old man she met on MySpace. He took her to his Bayport home and raped her, police said Tuesday.
It was the end result of an online relationship that the girl's parents knew nothing about, even though police say her father did "everything in his power" to monitor her activity on the Internet. "He was doing what any good parent would do," Det. Sgt. Thomas Groneman of Suffolk's Third Squad said Tuesday afternoon.
Despite those efforts, the girl managed to get regular access to a laptop computer in her home. For six weeks, she communicated with Zachary Rapoza, 20, of 27 Barrett Ave., a boiler repairman who was due to be sworn in to the Bayport Fire Department this week, said his attorney, Steven Politi of Central Islip. Bayport Fire Department Chief John D'Amico disputed that, saying that to the best of his knowledge Rapoza was not among the applicants expected to be sworn in to the department on Friday. If he is, D'Amico said that would likely be placed on hold.
On his Web page, Rapoza calls himself "Bayport Kid," and claims to have played on the Bayport-Blue Point High School's track and football teams.
The girl, who was not identified, is apparently one of 51 "friends" on his MySpace page, many of whom are young girls, some posing in their underwear.
"Most of the time, these girls don't know what they're getting into," Groneman said. "And that's part of the problem."
Suffolk police said Rapoza and the girl made plans for him to pick her up Monday at 8 a.m. Groneman said a relative saw her sneak out of the bathroom window, and the family called police. Suffolk patrol officers, aviation, and search dogs canvassed the area and searched through Robert Moses State Park, unsuccessfully, after receiving information that they might have gone to the beach.
A short time later, the girl contacted her father over the phone.
At that point, she was with Rapoza on a Long Island Rail Road train heading to Jamaica from Ronkonkoma -- just to "chill out and relax," Groneman said. Her father told her to get off the train at the next stop.
Police arrived at the Pinelawn station at 2:20 p.m. and took both into custody. The girl was reunited with her father. "She was obviously upset," Groneman said.
Rapoza was charged with second-degree rape, unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a minor. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday in First District Court, Central Islip and was held on $50,000 bail.
Politi said the girl claimed to be older and that Rapoza did not have sex with the girl. "When he was apprehended, he ... waited with her. That's not really the mindset of someone who thinks he's committing a crime."
His myspace http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endID=30505079
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