An FDNY employee who molested a 14-year-old Long Island girl knocked on her door years later, likely seeking to further abuse his young victim, authorities said yesterday.
Gary Ruiz, 37, of Flushing, a Fire Department emergency medical technician, was arrested for sexually abusing the girl when she was 7, 8 and 9 years old, said Nassau County Detective Lt. John Allen.
Last year, the victim confided in a friend, who told the family. But the teen refused to go through the anguish of a trial and would not go to police.
“She changed her mind the day he knocked on her door” late last month, said Allen.
The “unexpected and unannounced” visit and a phone call by him “prompted the victim to change her mind about keeping her secret from us,” Allen said.
The victim finally came forward because she feared Ruiz was trying to renew the abuse, a source said.
Ruiz was arrested on the job at 1 Metro Tech Plaza in Brooklyn on Wednesday and charged with Course
of Sexual Conduct against a Child.
He now lives at 144-59 27th Ave. in Flushing, but had lived in the same Long Island neighborhood as his
victim and was a family acquaintance, Allen said.
Ruiz was arraigned on the charge at Nassau County First District Court in Hempstead, where a judge set bail at $10,000 bond or $5,000 cash bail and set the next court date as June 7.