Manhattan man indicted in sex abuse of toddler in Riverside Park

A 30-year-old man was indicted in New York State Supreme Court yesterday in the sexual abuse of a 2-year-old girl in a Riverside Park bathroom stall on Sept. 24, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance.

Jason Carroll of Manhattan was indicted on two counts of predatory sexual assault, a class A felony. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 25 years to life if convicted.

Carroll allegedly told cops that his sister was the child's regular baby-sitter, but when she became unavailable, he picked up the child from her mother at a train station and took her to the park. He allegedly confessed to abusing the toddler, but said he "stopped because I knew what I was doing is wrong," according to a disclosure statement filed with the court.

Carroll, who allegedly told 20th Precinct NYPD Officer Anthony Giambra he had been unemployed for two years and did not have a girlfriend, also purportedly stated, "My mother is going to say, 'you're a dummy. You're a jackass. I told you not to do it.'"

Carroll's attorney, Eliza Orlins, said she will be moving to suppress Carroll's statements to police on multiple grounds, "including the veracity of those statements."

"It's important that no one rush to judgment or jump to conclusions," Orlins said, adding that her client is now "being assessed by doctors for his mental capacity."

Carroll was arrested after people in the park observed suspicious behavior in the bathroom and called police. Carroll has no previous arrest record in New York City, according to the NYPD, but he allegedly told Giambra he had been arrested before for similar conduct, "but I didn't do it then."