Web produced by Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- A man authorities suspect of posing as a cop and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged in the crime.
The incident happened in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, last week.
Steven Pappas was taken into custody Thursday morning, following a brief police pursuit through Sunset Park.
Pappas was charged with: Criminal Sex Act, Sex Abuse, Criminal Possession of Stolen property, Criminal Impersonation, Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
"He looked at this individual, how close his picture was to the sketch. The sketch is a very good likeness. They saw that the individual rearrested was arrested essentially for the same act in 1999." said Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Detectives from the Special Victims Unit first spotted the suspect near Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street just after 8:15 a.m. Pappas was captured after the chase at 50th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway.
Authorities took the suspect into custody in the general vicinity of the attack.
"He did have, in fact in his possession, a police badge, a police shield of an active duty police officer. That's under investigation," Kelly adds.
They were still searching for a white blue or gray minivan in the area of Fort Hamilton Parkway and 68th Street in Dyker Heights.
Police say Pappas is a career criminal whose checkered past is dotted with a burglary and sex crimes arrests.
In fact, he's on parole after a stint behind bars that began in '09.
A review of similar cases led detective to that case from February 4, 2009 case. In that case, the suspect approached the victim, a 12-year-old boy, on the 53 Street and 4 Avenue subway platform and displayed a gold shield.
The suspect identified himself as a Police Officer and escorted the victim into a blue sedan.
Once inside the sedan, the suspect drove to 97 Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway where he Sexually Assaulted the victim.
The suspect then drove the victim to 87 Street and 4 Avenue where he released him.
It has been determined that the suspect was also responsible for that incident. His charges are as follows: Criminal Sex Act, Sex Abuse, Criminal Impersonation, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
Brooklyn State Senator Martin Golden says Pappas shouldn't have been on the streets in the first place, and at the very least, he believes the level 3 sex offender should have been monitored.
"Where were the parole officers who were supposed to be on top of him the day he left that prison," State Sen. Martin Golden said.
Golden says Pappas fell through the cracks of a corrections and parole system that has been shrinking under the weight of state budget cuts.
Taxpayer savings, he alleges, may be compromising public safety.
He says the suspect, a level 3 sex offender, was living within a thousand feet of a school and playground.
Police say his most recent victim had thrown an empty bag of chips on the subway platform at the 53 Street and 4th Avenue on December 23 when the suspect displayed what appeared to be a police shield and told the victim to come with him.
The suspect drove the victim to the intersection of 92 Street and Dahlgren Place, where he allegedly sexually assaulted the boy.
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