XPost: nyc.politics, alt.politics.obama, sac.politics
XPost: alt.politics.democrats, soc.culture.african.american

On 7/30/2018 4:12 PM, Leroy N. Soetoro wrote:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-rapist-statue-of-liberty- 20180727-story.html

A convicted child rapist was arrested for illegally hawking Statue of
Liberty sightseeing boat tickets on park land, authorities said.

Marc Wellman, 53, was busted on July 20 while selling tickets for the
Circle Line company in front of the Staten Island Ferry station, police
said.

The arrest came 30 years after he was shipped off to prison for raping a 6-year-old girl while her mother held her down in the Bronx.

Former District Attorney Paul Gentile, speaking in 1988, called the
attacks "one of the most vicious and sickening cases of child sexual abuse
I have seen in 18 years as a prosecutor.”

Wellman, then 22, was convicted in November 1987 of four attacks on the
girl. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison and was released in February 2014, records show.

Rafael Abreu, an executive for the one tour company authorized to whisk tourists to Liberty Island, said he was not shocked by the arrest.

“The unfortunate part is I’m not surprised,” said Abreu, director of sales
and marketing for Statue Cruises. “They’ve threatened tourists. There’s been violence down there as well.”

Wellman was arrested along with a second man, Rahshad English, 42, authorities said.

An officer recovered a blackjack baton from English’s waistband, police said.

He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, in addition to
unlawful vending in a city park.

Wellman is being held on Rikers Island on a parole violation. English was released on his own recognizance.

Both men were arrested wearing red vests that read, “Tour Hub, Statue of Liberty Express Boat, Ticket Agents,” the criminal complaints said.

Calls to Circle Line were not returned. A rep for Tour Hub could not be reached.

The city has had mixed success in ridding the Battery Park area of the
tour boat ticket hustlers.

The hawkers sell tourists’ $40 tickets for a boat trip around the Statue
of Liberty. In some cases, the tourists are first bused to a port in New Jersey.

A Statue Cruises tour to Lady Liberty herself costs $18.50 and departs
from Battery Park.

Several Tour Hub sellers were spotted approaching tourists in the park Friday.

One hustler was overheard telling a visitor that he could buy a Statue Cruises ticket but it would require a two-hour security wait and “you don’t see the statue because there’s a 60-foot wall out front.”

“Or you can go on a one-hour cruise for $40,” that “stops in the back of
the statue,” he added.

The man said a free shuttle bus takes customers to the boat. Asked where
the boat is docked, the man said it was “10 minutes away from here.”

Pressed further, he stammered a bit. Then he paused.

“It’s in Jersey,” he said finally.

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