Manhattan prosecutors are “very concerned” about the criminal case against Pedro Hernandez — the man accused of kidnapping and killing Etan Patz in 1979, sources told The Post on Friday.
They fear that defense lawyers will cast the blame on longtime Patz suspect and convicted pedophile Jose Ramos, who was found responsible for the six-year-old boy’s death in a 2004 civil case, the sources said.
“They [prosecutors] are very concerned about the Ramos factor,” said one source close to the case. “They know that Hernandez’s lawyer is going to bring up the fact that Ramos was already found liable for the kid’s death.”
The DA’s Office is moving forward with their case against Hernandez, who has a court appearance on Wednesday.
“The anonymous assertions relative to the prosecution of this case in the article are false,” said Manhattan DA Deputy Chief of Staff Erin Duggan Kramer.
Privately though, prosecutors are second guessing whether they have the right man, insiders say.
“When you’re involved in a homicide investigation, you have to be 100 percent sure that this is your guy,” said one insider. “That’s not the case here.”
There are two key pieces of evidence that throw suspicion on the 70-year-old Ramos.
The scruffy con dated a woman who was babysitting Patz at the time he disappeared.
Ramos also told the FBI that he brought a boy who “could have been Etan” to the train station and “put him on the subway.”
“He had access to the kid and he basically told the investigators that he was with him on the day in question,” a source said.
In 2012, Ramos was arrested on a Megan’s Law violation after being released from prison where he served 27 years for sexually abusing a young Pennsylvania boy.