Twitter

Day Care Worker Arrested After Boy, 4, Found in Queens Park

A 32-year-old day care center worker has been charged after a 4-year-old boy was found alone in a Queens park Tuesday, and police say the worker waited about five hours before reporting him missing.

Police spent the day searching for the parents of Emi, who was found in Juniper Valley Park by city parks workers at 12:45 p.m.

The parents of the boy were eventually reunited with their son Tuesday evening after the boy had been missing for more than five hours.

Police said Emi vanished during a game of hide-and-seek in the park with day care worker Oscar Jaramillo, and Jaramillo's own daughter. He worked for a day care in Queens.

They said Jaramillo did not report Emi missing for about 5 hours. Jaramillo claims he did call 911 earlier. 

He was charged with abandonment of a child and and endangering the welfare of a child. 

After picking up his son from the police station, Emi's father Jim said the 4-year-old was "doing fine" and he was thrilled to have him back.

"He went missing, he got lost and the police found him," he explained. "He wandered off from a group at childcare in the park."

When asked what took so long for the missing child to be reported, his father replied, "It is what it is." 

Emi told reporters the police station had been fun. 

Police said the 4-year-old was found by Parks and Recreations personnel. He was not injured and was mentally and physically well, although he didn't know his last name or his parents' names. 

At about 5 p.m. the 104th Precinct had released a photo of the little boy on Twitter asking members of the public to contact them if they know Emi.

Just before 6 p.m. police released a tweet saying that Emi's parents had been found. 

Contact Us