FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 115 Years in Prison for Raping
82-Year-Old Woman in her Brighton Beach Home
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 20-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 115 years in prison for the rape, sexual abuse and assault of an 82-year-old woman in her Brighton Beach home in 2015.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The defendant’s crimes in this case are almost unspeakable. I commend the victim for testifying and making sure that this defendant was held accountable for this horrific assault. Today’s sentence reflects the depravity of his conduct as proven at trial and is necessary to protect the public from a clearly dangerous individual.”
The Acting District Attorney said that the defendant, Asa Robert, 20, of Brooklyn, was sentenced today to 115 years in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice. The defendant was convicted of first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree assault, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary and two counts of second-degree criminal trespass, following a jury trial in November 2016.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on July 13, 2015, at approximately 2 a.m., in the vicinity of Brighton 11th Street in Brighton Beach, the defendant entered the victim’s apartment while she was outside taking out the garbage. A short while later, after the victim went to bed she heard a noise and discovered the defendant hiding in her bedroom. The victim yelled for him to leave, but he refused. Instead, he strangled her and forced her onto the bed, where he held a knife to her face, demanded money and punched her in the chest. The defendant then tied her hands behind her back and ransacked the bedroom.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, the defendant then brought the victim into her kitchen and again assaulted her and ordered her not to call the police. The defendant brought the victim back to her bedroom shortly thereafter and raped and sodomized the victim.
After again instructing the victim not to call the police, the defendant fled the home with a bag containing the victim’s personal items. The victim called family members, who called 911. Police responded and the victim was treated at Kings County Hospital.
The defendant led the police on a four-day chase through various homes in Brooklyn. He was arrested on July 17, 2015 after being found hiding in the kitchen of a private residence.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Lisa Nugent of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau and Senior Assistant District Attorney Olatokunbo Olaniyan, formerly of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, under the supervision of Miss Gregory, Chief.
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