Police: suspect arrested, charged with rape in Van Cortlandt Park assault

Updated 7/2/26.

According to police, Abundio Hernandez Cantu, 36, of Yonkers was arrested June 29 and charged with rape in connection to a Van Cortlandt Park assault. 

Cantu was arraigned in criminal court, according to a spokesperson for the Bronx District Attorney's Office, and is currently on supervised release. 

The assault was reported as occurring June 23 around 10 p.m., when a 13-year-old girl was approached by an unidentified individual while riding a northbound Bx9 bus, police said.  When the girl disembarked from the bus near Broadway and West 261st Street, the individual grabbed  her and dragged her into a wooded area in the park, according to police. 

However, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office told The Press the girl was not "dragged," and instead went with the man willingly. 

Police reported the individual sexually assaulted the girl and then fled to parts unknown.  The district attorney's office said the man asked the girl for sex, but she declined. 

The girl was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, police said.

This is a developing story.