FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 7, 2021
Brooklyn Man Arraigned on Indictment Charging Him With
Sexual Assault of Woman He Followed Home from Subway
Defendant Fled After Victim Fought Him Off and Alerted a Neighbor
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Flatbush man has been arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with assault, burglary, sexual abuse, forcible touching and other charges for allegedly following a woman from the subway to her apartment building and attacking the victim during an attempted rape.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant is alleged to have followed the victim for several blocks before ambushing her in a violent attack. No woman in Brooklyn should feel unsafe walking the streets at night or in the refuge of their own homes. We will continue to vigorously prosecute cases of sexual violence and get justice for victims.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Kareem Gilmore, 32, of Flatbush, Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser on an indictment in which he is charged with first-, second- and third-degree burglary, second- and third-degree assault, sexual abuse, forcible touching, criminal trespass, and related charges. He was released on $20,000 bail and ordered to return to court on July 8, 2021. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on March 27, 2021, at approximately 2:40 a.m., the defendant allegedly followed the 24-year-old victim for four blocks, from the Beverly Road 2/5 subway station to her apartment building.
After noticing that the defendant followed her into the building, the victim began to run up the stairs. The defendant allegedly caught the victim on the stairs and dragged her to the ground where he attempted to remove her dress and underwear. The defendant allegedly touched his hand to the victim’s genital area and tried to unbutton his pants.
During the attack, the victim was able to escape the defendant. A neighbor heard the commotion in the stairwell, came to his door to see what was going on and allegedly saw the defendant fleeing towards the front door of the building.
It is alleged that the defendant punched the victim about her head and body several times with a closed fist during the attack and slammed her head into the stairs, causing bruising to the victim’s legs, bleeding and swelling to her face, pain to her head and fear of further physical injury.
Video surveillance from outside the victim’s apartment building shows the defendant following the victim into the building shortly before the attack and fleeing shortly after. The victim identified the defendant from the surveillance video. In addition, the defendant identified himself from the surveillance video.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Daniel Newcombe, of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Bureau Chief.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not a proof of a defendant’s guilt.