UPDATE: Police charged Daniel Santucci Jr. with kidnapping and sexually assaulting the girl.
An arrest has been made in the abduction and sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl in Delaware.
New Castle County Police will announce an arrest in the case during a news conference Monday at 1 p.m., according to NBC10's Tim Furlong. They have not yet revealed the identity of the suspect in custody.
The child was kidnapped while playing with friends in the Plum Run neighborhood of Pike Creek on April 6, witnesses said. Witnesses described her abductor as a white man with dark hair and driving a dark sedan with tinted windows. The incident occurred around 7 p.m. on the 4800 block of Sugar Plum Court. She was approached by the suspect and taken to his car. The two then sped off, causing several children to scream. A woman heard the cries and called officials. [[421577893, C]]
"The person approached the little girl and he said he had something for her mommy," neighbor Megan Gardner told police. "She went to get it from him and he grabbed her."
Police found the young girl two hours later in a nearby park wearing little clothing. She was taken to a local hospital where investigators discovered signs of sexual assault. She was treated and released with non-life threatening injuries.
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While the community remains on edge, residents say news of an arrest a month later gives them hope that the child and her family will have a chance at justice.
"Oh my gosh you feel it because you have your own kids," Maggie Gonzales, a resident, said. "And I wanted that person to be found."
