Manatee Sheriff on Hunt for Alleged Child Rapist/Kidnapper

Manatee County Sheriff Brad Stuebe had one message at a press conference on Tuesday for a suspect currently wanted in connection with the rape and kidnapping of a 5-year-old Bradenton girl: “We are hunting you.” 

MCSO spokesperson Randy Warren said dozens of people responded to the surveillance video authorities released early Tuesday showing the suspect trying to board Manatee County Area Transit bus as he tried to flee the area.

“We are working all kinds of leads,” he said. “ We are on the hunt to find him and make arrest and we are actively searching and going to track him down.”

The girl was assaulted near a Bradenton mobile home park Monday afternoon, according to the sheriff's office. She was reportedly playing with another child around 1 p.m. Monday near the Aloha Estates Mobile Home Park, 5310 14th St. W., when she was approached by the man, who lured her to a store and then a vacant mobile home, detectives said.

There, the girl was held against her will, choked and sexually battered, the sheriff's office said.

The girl managed to escape, run home and tell a family member about the attack.

Officials also released another YouTube video of security footage showing the man and the victim inside a store.

Warren said it is unknown if the man lived in the area or if he was just passing through.

“All we know now is that he was familiar with the mobile home park,” Warren said.

Deputies, who often respond to reports of drugs and burglaries that occur on the premises, consider the park a crime-ridden area, Warren said.

“Fortunately, crimes such as this one don’t normally happen,” he said. 

Warren said victim’s advocates are currently working with the family during this “very trying time.”