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Cops: 2 boys pumping gas for money were abducted, shown porn, assaulted

A man lured the pair, who are brothers, into his car on Tuesday, police said.

Two young brothers pumping gas for tips at a Strawberry Mansion gas station Tuesday night were abducted by a motorist who showed them pornography and indecently assaulted them, police said.

Both boys escaped — but the driver remained at large, and community leaders expressed safety concerns Friday after learning of the incident from a reporter.

"Our concern is that there's been no alerts at all about this," said Tyrone Williams, community liaison for the Strawberry Mansion Neighborhood Action Center. "How are we to protect our youth and our community if we don't know predators are lurking among us?"

The brothers, ages 11 and 14, were pumping gas for customers at a Sunoco at 33rd and York Streets when one was approached by a man who said he would tip the older boy but wanted to take him to another service station where the gas was cheaper, according to police.

The teen got into the man's silver, four-door Dodge Avenger, leaving his brother behind. On the way to the second gas station, the motorist showed the boy pornographic images and assaulted him, police said. Once they arrived at the second gas station, on the 3000 block of Hunting Park Avenue, the teen pumped the man's gas.

The man said that the ATM at the second gas station was too crowded and that he wanted the boy to go with him to a third location to get his tip, but the teen ran away. The man drove off and the boy waited for a bus to take him back to the first gas station to meet up with his younger brother, police said.

But the man had returned to the first gas station and had told the waiting boy that he had come back to bring him to his brother, according to police.

The 11-year-old got into the vehicle, and the man showed him pornography and assaulted him, according to police.

The child asked to leave the vehicle, and the man let him out near Hollywood Street before driving away, police said.

The brothers met up again at the first gas station, then told their mother about the incident. Police were notified around 8:15 p.m.

The man was described as a light-skinned black man in his 20s with a chubby build, short hair, and a mustache. He wore a white shirt, a red hoodie, and tan pants, police said.

Judith Robinson, 60, a lifelong Strawberry Mansion resident and a community activist, said she was concerned that Friday was the first time she had heard the report.

"It absolutely should be publicized," she said. "We want to know about it so we can at least alarm our youth to be very careful about talking to strangers."

Sgt. Eric Gripp, police spokesman, said that as a parent himself he understands the community's concerns with receiving timely information on such reports.

"But we have to work the investigation and work the leads. We don't immediately think it's beneficial to getting this person off the street by putting the information out there right away," Gripp said. "Even if we are reasonably sure and we want to get this out, usually with kids it takes longer, because we want to be extra-sensitive in getting it right and accurately recounting the situation."

Robinson said youths in Strawberry Mansion have always done odd jobs to earn extra money. One youth at a local supermarket returns shopping carts for customers to get their 25-cent deposits.

"I'm from the era where we grabbed a shovel or took soda bottles back to the store. Our boys always hustled in the neighborhood," Robinson said. "We always encourage our youth to get out and carry a grocery bag or stand outside of stores and put the carts back ... but to have someone use that as a way to do something so strange to our young men is scary."

Williams, of the Strawberry Mansion Neighborhood Action Center, said his group would alert parents in the area of the case.

"We need to find this individual, and parents need to be more vigilant this summer in watching their children," he said.

Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251.