FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 17, 2021
Bronx Man Indicted for Rape of Stranger on A Train
Defendant Allegedly Approached Woman on Platform at Liberty Avenue,
Then Boarded Subway and Sexually Assaulted Her Multiple Times
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Bronx man has been indicted for allegedly attacking a woman in the early morning hours of August 11, 2021 on board a northbound A train.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Keeping our communities safe from violent sexual predators is a top priority. This defendant is charged with a frightening and life-altering attack of an innocent young woman who was riding the subway and we will now seek to hold him accountable for his heinous actions.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Dashawn Lewis, 30, of the Bronx. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser on a 20-count indictment in which he is charged with first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual abuse, third-degree robbery, forcible touching and related charges. He was ordered held on $500,000 bail and to return to court on September 21, 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 August 11, 2021, at approximately 3:15 a.m., the victim, a 24-year-old woman, was seated on a bench at the Liberty Avenue subway station in East New York where the alleged sexual assault started.
The defendant allegedly followed her onto the train, sexually assaulted her and raped her.
The defendant then allegedly threatened her and directed her not to report the assault. Police were called and the victim was taken to a hospital, where a sexual assault kit was prepared.
The defendant was arrested for farebeating at approximately 5:45 a.m., at a nearby train station, by New York City Police Officers who recognized him as fitting the description of the suspect in the rape and sexual assault, and he was subsequently charged with the rape and sexual assault.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Laura Dilimetin of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, under the overall 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.