PROVIDENCE, RI – On Monday, a surveillance camera captured the images of a man grabbing a young girl as she stepped off of a school bus near the intersection of Grover and Merino streets. He could then be seen forcing his victim into an SUV, before fleeing.
About an hour later, her abductor dropped the 9-year-old girl off at the same bus stop. She had been sexually assaulted.
She was taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital for treatment, and detectives began to search for the child rapist.
WPRI reported:
A police report filed with the court as part of the criminal case details how the young girl provided information that led to the suspect’s arrest, telling police he took her to a remote location and sexually assaulted her, then drove to a Burger King drive-thru to buy her food.
Investigators went to multiple Burger King locations in Providence and Cranston and sifted through surveillance video until they spotted the suspect vehicle in the drive-thru at the 966 Park Ave. location in Cranston. The manager found the chicken nugget order that happened at the same time, the report said, which gave detectives a debit card number.
That card number led them to the home of Luis Martinez-Romero, 34, who was taken into custody the following day.
Disturbingly, Martinez-Romero, who is married, was holding a newborn baby at the time of his arrest, according to police.
Martinez-Romero has been charged with kidnapping a minor and second-degree sexual assault. He is currently being held at the Providence County Jail without bond.
If convicted, he could face up to 50 years in prison.
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