LI Man Raped 13-Year-Old After Gas Station Meet-Up: Police

WEST ISLIP, NY — A West Islip man has been charged with raping a 13-year-old girl after luring her to a gas station and driving her to a secluded area, according to Suffolk County police.

Officers responded to a middle school on Tuesday after a student told a guidance counselor she had been sexually assaulted, according to police.

Police said the girl reported that a man contacted her by phone and arranged to meet her at a gas station on Express Drive South in Holtsville on Monday.

After meeting her, the man drove the victim to a secluded area, where he sexually assaulted her inside his vehicle before returning her to the gas station, police said.

Following an investigation, Sixth Squad detectives arrested Michael Liontonia, 38, outside his home on Milligan Lane in West Islip at around 5 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

Liontonia was charged with 1st and 2nd degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

He was held overnight at the Sixth Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday at First District Court in Central Islip.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident or who believes they may have been a victim to contact Sixth Squad detectives at 631-854-8652.