FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Bronx Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Rape of Stranger on A Train
Defendant 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 sentenced to 25 years in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a woman in the early morning hours of August 11, 2021 onboard a northbound A train.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant violently and brutally attacked an innocent woman on the subway, and thanks to the victim’s brave testimony he will be held accountable. Protecting our communities from sexual assault is a top priority for my office and I commend the NYPD for their outstanding work apprehending the defendant within hours of this attack.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Dashawn Lewis, 32, of the Bronx. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Phyllis Chu to 25 years in prison and 20 years of post-release supervision. The defendant was convicted of first-degree rape, three counts of first-degree criminal sexual act, third-degree robbery, forcible touching, and theft of services on March 16, 2023, following a jury trial. The defendant must register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on August 11, 2021, at approximately 3:20 a.m., the victim, a 24-year-old woman, was waiting for the subway at the Liberty Avenue station in East New York when the defendant started speaking to her and she ignored him. When she got up to board the train, he touched her buttocks, boarded the train, started yelling at her in front of two other passengers, and then moved into a different car.
Meanwhile, the victim, who was crying, called her friend on Facetime, but the call dropped. The two other passengers got off the train at the next stop, according to the evidence, and the defendant came back into the car, said to her “don’t make me mess up your pretty face,” and forced her to perform a sex act while filming it. He then raped her and again forced her to perform a sex act, took her identification and left the train.
When the victim got off the train at the next stop she was met by her friend and police, as her friend had called 911 when the call dropped. 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 sexual assault, and he was subsequently charged. The defendant’s DNA was a match to the sexual assault kit and further evidence of the attack was found on his phone.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorneys Gwen Barnes and Paul Hershan, of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, under the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Bureau Chief.
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