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Woman allegedly murdered 80-year-old man and wrote ‘I touch little girls’ on his chest

The man who was murdered has no known prior convictions for pedophilia or sexual assault and was not in the state’s sexual offender registry

Graig Graziosi
Tuesday 30 November 2021 16:14 EST
Woman charged with murder of NYC man found with 'I touch little girls' written on chest

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A 29-year-old live-in aide has been charged with the murder of an 80-year-old man who was found beaten to death with the phrase "I touch little girls" written across his chest.

Rene Ayarde, 29, was charged on Monday with murder, manslaughter and assault for the July killing of Robert Raynor at his apartment in Staten Island, New York.

Two other phrases were found scrawled on the man's body. One phrase read "I take dolls in my room for girls age 1-5" and a second read "I touch."

Ms Ayarde and her daughter lived with Mr Raynor.

In the hours after the killing, Ms Ayarde was arrested for child abuse, but has only been charged with Mr Raynor's murder. According to police reports, six hours after Mr Raynor was found shirtless with cuts to his forehead and two black eyes, Ms Ayarde was arrested for allegedly beating her three-year-old daughter.

Police claim Ms Ayarde shoved her daughter onto the ground and dragged her along a street before throwing a bottle of water at the child's face. A police report claims that a woman who saw the incident tried to call 911, but Ms Ayarde allegedly stole her phone and pushed her to the ground.

Ms Ayarde's three-year-old child was taken to the hospital with bruises to her neck when EMS workers arrived.

The girl allegedly told police that "Mommy threw me on the floor”.

Four months after that incident, Ms Ayarde was charged with Mr Raynor's murder.

While Mr Raynor had 24 prior arrests in his history, none were tied to pedophilia or child sex abuse. He is not a part of the state's sex offender registry. However, only four of his arrests were unsealed, according to The New York Post.

Mr Raynor's daughter, Carolyn Whetsone, told the New York Daily News that her father was not a pedophile and "would not touch a child”.

She claimed her father was arthritic and suffering from cancer, and would not have been physically able to assault anyone.

According to Ms Whetstone, in one of her final phone calls with her father, the octogenarian told her that his health had degraded to the point where he could barely move.

"It was that bad," she said.

"That's not my father. He would not touch a child. He would never violate anyone. He's got daughters and granddaughters that he's watched when he's come to visit me, she said. "That's not him. That's not true."

Sources speaking with The New York Post said Ms Ayarde has remained silent since she was charged.

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