Bronx man targeted migrants in subway, lured them with fake jobs before sex assaults: Prosecutors
Jan 08, 2025
A Bronx man targeted Spanish-speaking migrants in the city’s subway system, promising them jobs but instead subjecting them to a string of horrifying sexual assaults, prosecutors charged Wednesday.
Agustin Diaz, 53, was indicted on charges that included rape, sex abuse and stalking for the years-long scheme that victimized at least four women.
According to the charges, Diaz would approach women on the subway, offer them work, and direct them to isolated locations under the guise of providing employment opportunities. Once there, Diaz allegedly assaulted them.
The first reported incident occurred in May 2018, when Diaz claimed he could offer a woman a cleaning job in a dental office. After taking her to an empty office on Wall Street in Manhatten, he allegedly threw her to the ground and raped her twice, prosecutors charged.
In August 2023, a second woman seeking employment met Diaz in a building on Pearl Street — about a block away from the phony Wall Street office. He then led the woman to a small storage room in a basement where he tasked her with filling plastic bags with candy and snacks. While she was preoccupied, he crept up behind her and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said.
A month later, Diaz lured a third woman to the same basement, where he asked her to perform the same snack duty. As she filled the plastic bags, he grabbed her by the hair and forcibly kissed her before shoving his hands down her pants and groping her, according to prosecutors.
In December 2023, a fourth woman in need of work was lured to the Pearl Street location, which Diaz purported was his deli. After assaulting her, Diaz repeatedly called and texted her, but the woman turned down any further job opportunities, according to prosecutors.
The next month, however, the woman ran into Diaz again on the subway. Still in need of work, she agreed to meet him, when he assaulted her again. The serial sex abuser began stalking her, sending multiple messages and even showing up at her church in an attempt to intimidate her, prosecutors charge.
Desperate, the woman would return to work for Diaz once more, and in April 2024, he pulled her pants down and threatened her with a knife, demanding she have sex with him. She fought back, suffering multiple injuries to both hands.
Diaz threatened at least two of the women with deportation if they went to the police after the attacks, prosecutors said.
Following his arraignment on Wednesday in Manhattan Criminal Court, Diaz was ordered held without bail. His attorney did not immediately return a request for comment.
Officials are continuing to investigate the assaults, and urge anyone with information to call 212-335-9793.