Union City Babysitter Sexually Assaulted 6-Year-Old Girl: HCPO

UNION CITY, NJ — A 71-year-old Union City man is accused of sexually assaulting, on multiple occasions, a 6-year-old girl who was supposedly being watched by his wife.

The man, Mario Buitrago-Sanchez, was arrested this past Friday, June 14 at 9 p.m. He was charged with five counts of sexual assault against the child. That was the same day Secaucus police initially reported the alleged sex assault to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, Special Victims' Unit.

According to the criminal complaint, which was obtained by Patch, all the assaults happened in his Union City apartment on Bergenline Avenue. Police interviewed the girl's mother, who said she had been taking her daughter to their apartment for the past five months now, so Buitrago-Sanchez's wife could babysit the child.

However, the wife was often at work and it ended up usually being Buitrago-Sanchez who would watch her, the girl's mother said. She told police that her daughter has been acting differently in the past month, "being rude and dismissive and just not acting like herself," according to the criminal complaint.

The mother said that last Thursday, June 13, she was talking to her daughter about not letting anyone touch her while wearing a dress to school, and that's when the girl told her mother she had a "secret she is not supposed to talk about," and disclosed that Buitrago-Sanchez touched her. The girl repeated it is "a secret between them," according to the affidavit. She said the last time it happened was yesterday (Wednesday, June 12). She said it would happen on the couple's bed while the wife was at work, and it would happen "every day."

The girl's mother took her to the doctor. It was Secaucus police who first contacted the Hudson County prosecutor's office to report the alleged crime; so far, that appears to be the only known Secaucus connection. Where the girl and her family live will not be release by the county prosecutor, as they are victims.

The criminal complaint was graphic, and alleged that he penetrated her with his penis and performed oral sex on the child.

He will be detained until trial.