MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade deputies arrested a man Tuesday after they said he deceived an 11-year-old girl and lured her into a park bathroom, where he raped her before a witness interrupted the assault and got others to chase him down.
Antwan Johnson, 18, of northwest Miami-Dade, is now facing three felony counts, including a child rape charge carrying a possible death sentence.
Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies said the attack happened at around 7 p.m. at Gwen Cherry Park, located at 7090 NW 22nd Ave. in the unincorporated Gladeview area.
An MDSO arrest report states that at around 7 p.m., Johnson, a stranger, approached the girl and asked her to get toilet paper from the women’s restroom “because there was no toilet paper in the men’s bathroom.”
It was a trick, authorities said.
The report states that Johnson followed the girl inside, where he attacked her and moved her into a stall, where the assault took place.
The young girl “pleaded” with Johnson to stop and let her go, deputies said, but he wouldn’t let her leave.
“A witness entered the bathroom and saw (Johnson), who then fled the bathroom,” the report states. “The witness exited the bathroom and yelled that (Johnson) just raped the victim. Citizens at the park chased after (him) and detained him until police arrived.”
Deputies said Johnson at first denied raping the girl but then “recanted and confessed.”
He “indicated he knew what he did was wrong and he was sorry,” the report states.
Johnson now faces a capital crime: Sexual battery on a victim under 12. He also faces charges of kidnapping and false imprisonment of a child under 13.
He was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at around 9 a.m. Wednesday and his bond was listed as “to be set” in online jail records.
The girl was taken to a hospital in stable condition, authorities said.