The daughter of an elderly man found beaten to death in Staten Island, New York, with "I touch little girls" written in marker across his chest said on Wednesday he was not a pedophile.
Robert Raynor, 80, was found face up with his hands stretched over his chest on Monday morning, police said. He was shirtless with the message scrawled across his skin. It was not clear who wrote the message, why it was written, or if it was written before or after he died.
His death was ruled a homicide on Wednesday. A spokesman for the Office of Chief Medical Examiner said Raynor was killed by blunt trauma to the head and torso.
No arrests have been made, and police have not yet publicly identified a suspect or motive in the death.
Raynor's daughter, Carolyn Whetstone, spoke with the New York Daily News on Wednesday. She said that in addition to looking for answers regarding her father's death, she was angry about the comments written on his body. She insisted the message was untrue.
"That's not my father," Whetstone told the Daily News. "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."
Whetstone, who lives in North Carolina, also said of the message: "That's not him. That's not true."
She claimed that aside from being morally incapable of such a crime, her father was physically unable to commit such an act. Raynor had cancer and arthritic knees, she said.
Whetstone told the paper her father was living with a paid home health care worker for the past several years due to his health. After not being able to reach the worker by phone over the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said she asked police to make a wellness check on Raynor. She said they reported back that her father was not doing well and could barely move.
Raynor's body was discovered by neighbor Isaac Williams, who said an additional message was written in black marker on the corpse's stomach. The phrase allegedly written there said: "I take dolls in my room for girls ages 1-5."
The Daily News also reported "I touch" was written on one of Raynor's feet. The paper also noted that while Raynor had a criminal record, he was never arrested for any sex offenses and his name does not appear on state or national sex offender registries.
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