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Ice cream truck driver sentenced
Argentinian Eduardo Grau, 55, to be deported after serving time for sexually abusing girl in 2004

By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer
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Last updated: 1:42 p.m., Monday, July 24, 2006

TROY -- A Mr. Ding-A-Ling ice cream truck driver was sentenced to two years in prison Monday for sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl he allowed to ride in his truck around her neighborhood.

Eduardo Grau, 55, an Argentinian national, was arrested Aug. 9, 2004, after he drove the girl to a wooded area by the Morrison Manor Apartments, kissed her and fondled her through her clothes. He denied the incident occurred but on July 10 pleaded guilty to first-degree sex abuse.

Because he has been in the Rensselaer County Jail for nearly two years, Grau was released on time served Monday but will be handed over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service to be deported to his native country.

Under state guildelines, any noncitizen charged with a sex crime can be deported.

Grau, through an interpretor, told County Judge Robert Jacon he had nothing to say.

Police said Grau offered children free ice cream and candy in exchange for rides on his ice cream truck. In most cases, parents gave their kids permission to ride along. The girl had been on the truck before.

She said in a written statement to police that Grau told her not to tell anyone about the incident, saying, ``No telling. No mom. No dad. No brother. It's dangerous.''

Grau told police he does not speak English well. He said he only warned the girl not to talk about seeing some boys throw ice at the truck when the girl was on board and wouldn't stop for them.

``If my lips touched hers, it would have been a mistake,'' Grau told police in a statement translated by a Spanish-speaking officer. ``She is a baby. I would not kiss her with lust or passion.''



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