Florida Homeless Man Charged With Sexually Assaulting 6-Year-Old Boy In McDonald’s Bathroom
A 33-year-old homeless man of Jacksonville, Florida is being charged with capital sexual battery in a 6-year-old’s attack at a McDonald’s on Thursday, according to First Coast News. At approximately 5:30 p.m., a family of four arrived at 3400 block of Emerson Street to have a bite to eat when tragedy struck after two brothers – aged 6 and 7 – went to the restroom.
After a few minutes had passed, the 7-year-old boy returned to the table, but there was no sign of his brother. The father – whose name has not been released – grew increasingly worried and went into the restroom after him. As he was walking into the men’s restroom, he saw Keith Andre Sykes walking out of the stall that his 6-year-old was in. He looked inside and saw his son zipping his pants.
Keith Andre Sykes Sexually Attacked 6 Year Old In The Mcdonald’s Bathroom. http://t.co/9sLExrIY2P pic.twitter.com/02WRGrn0cb
— Horrible Crime News (@HCrimeNews) August 24, 2015
Without question, the father immediately ran after the homeless man, but wasn’t able to catch him as he lost sight of him between Spring Park Road and Emerson Street, according to Action News Jax. The police were called to the scene and an investigation was launched.
“We’re confident something of a sexual nature did occur with the little boy,” said Chief Tom Hackney. “It’s hard to tell exactly what happened in that stall, but based on” forensics evidence and medical exams, it’s clear that some kind of sex crime happened. “Obviously the suspect had no business being in that stall with that little boy.”
“What’s happened is horrible and tragic to these little victims. But what can come out of this is that it won’t happen again.”
The following day, Jacksonville police arrested Sykes at a dumpster on 3800 block of Emerson Street – close to where the sexual attack on the boy took place – after receiving a tip from a witness who stated that they saw the homeless man fleeing from McDonalds the previous day.
“To our knowledge, the suspect is homeless,” Director Bruno said during a news briefing. “He frequents the area, and that’s why we had such good witnesses who were able to identify him.”
They initially placed Sykes under arrest for a misdemeanor marijuana charge, but when several witnesses pointed him out in a photo spread, claiming he was the one that was seen running from McDonald’s after the attack, he was hit with another charge.
Keith Andre Sykes is currently being held at the Duval County jail on charges of capital sexual battery.
[Image courtesy of Justin Sullivan / Getty Images]
