Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Alleged Jovial-Looking Pervert Is A Level-Three Sex Offender
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 16, 2012
Modified Nov 16, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 16, 2012
Modified Nov 16, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The man arrested for allegedly sexually abusing two young girls in a Queens apartment building's laundry room is a level three sex offender. WABC 7 reports, "Authorities said [Mario] Lopez is a Level 3 sex offender. He was just released from prison last January after serving 13 years behind bars for sex abuse and kidnapping."
Lopez, 52, was charged with two counts of burglary, two counts of sexual abuse, two counts of luring a child to commit a crime and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for the Monday night incident. The Queens DA's office put out a release describing the alleged abuse, and it's awful: "District Attorney [Richard] Brown said that, according to the criminal charges, Lopez entered the residential building, located on Broadway in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, at around 7:00 p.m. on Monday, November 12, 2012, and stood near the elevators, waving to children and walking with the two female victims, who are four and nine years old, toward the building’s laundry room under the pretense that he needed help with his laundry. Once inside the room, it is alleged that Lopez sexually abused both young girls by slapping the nine-year-old’s buttocks and touching the four-year-old’s vagina under her clothes. Lopez then allegedly offered to buy candy for the nine-year-old victim before fleeing."
According to the Daily News, Lopez's parole officer recognized Lopez in the surveillance video. And what was Lopez in prison for? In 2000, he "approached a [25-year-old] woman walking down a Queens street and asked her for directions to Queens Center Mall. He convinced her to get into the car to help him get to the mall but instead drove to 36th St. and Vernon Blvd. where he sexually abused her, according to sources."
Tagged
assault
mario lopez
nypd
pervert
queens
sex offender
sexual abuse
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Plan to modernize NYC's diesel-spewing produce market falls apart under Mamdani
Bronx officials are scrambling to try to salvage a transformative project worth $650 million.
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 6:00 a.m. ET
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
News
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .