The NYPD says they have arrested a taxi driver accused of raping a passenger who passed out in Williamsburg earlier this year. Gurmeet Singh, 40, was charged with rape, robbery, menacing and sex abuse. more ›

Police are hunting for a serial rapist who is accused of raping two women and attempting to rape at least one other in Jamaica, Queens. Police released the video below of the latest attack, in which the suspect approached a woman at about 2 a.m. in the area of 154th Street on Dec. 7. You can see him place a sharp object to her back and put her in a choke hold—police say he then pulled her behind a home and attempted to rape her. more ›

Police are investigating three sexual assaults that took place in Brooklyn and Queens in the span of 24 hours this weekend. The first reported incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, when a woman grabbed at knifepoint in Springfield Gardens, Queens, on 145th Road near the Belt Parkway. The unidentified woman was walking home when she was tackled from behind by a man who tried to sexually assault her. Police sources tell NY1 that her assailant ran off when she screamed for help. more ›

A Windsor Terrace woman is the latest to blast Brooklyn cops working the 72nd and 78th precincts for not taking a sexual assault seriously enough, the Brooklyn Paper reports. Around 11:30 p.m. on September 24th, the unidentified 28-year-old student was assaulted in the entrance to her building on East 4th Street, by a man who shoved her up against the door and tried to grope her. The man fled after she screamed, and although police searched the area after the attack, he got away. more ›

A Brooklyn man was arrested yesterday and accused of sexually assaulting at least three women over the last month. Federico Chamorro Yax, 22, has been charged with assault, sex abuse and forcible touching in the assaults. But police are not yet sure whether Yax is the same person as the man/men who have been terrorizing women around Park Slope for the past few months, and warn that he may be a copycat. more ›

A good Samaritan stopped a long-haired man from sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman on Staten Island this week. Vince Corrado was taking the garbage out when he heard the girl scream in West Brighton at around 9 p.m. on Monday: “It was a scream of terror, just blood-curdling. I saw someone under a car in front of my house and yelled, ‘Who the hell is it?’ I see a guy get up and run off down the block and then I see a girl stand up," Corrado told the Post. more ›

Earlier today we received a tip that there had been another attempted sexual assault in Park Slope, a neighborhood that along with Sunset Park and Bay Ridge has been terrorized by a series of similar attacks. Our tipster wrote, "There was another attempted (and failed) rape in Park Slope last night—check parkslopeparents.com. It should be reported—this guy is bold." Since Park Slope parents is restricted to, well, Park Slope parents, we remained in the dark until this disturbing news surfaced on FiPS. Here's an email they received from the woman who was attacked: more ›

Since early Spring, an unidentified man has been roaming Park Slope, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge in search of rape victims. Last Friday night police believe he struck again, attempting to rape a woman he followed from the Prospect Avenue subway station about 8:30 p.m. If this is the same perpetrator, he broke from his pattern of targeting women under cover of darkness—the other four attacks that police say are connected happened between 10:30 p.m. and 4 a.m. In this case, the man reportedly grabbed the woman from behind at Prospect and Sixth Avenues, but she broke free and scared him off. more ›

The NYPD is asking New Yorkers to be on the lookout for this guy, who's believed to be the perpetrator of at least four attacks on women in Sunset Park and Park Slope since March. In three out of the four assaults, his victims were able to fend themselves off, but police say that just before 3 a.m. on Saturday the assailant followed a 28-year-old woman into the vestibule of her apartment on 55th St. in Sunset Park and raped her. Here's surveillance video of the man police believe is responsible: more ›

There was outrage earlier this week when it was reported that a man sentenced to 18-to-40-years for sexually assaulting a teenage relative was being considered for a costly heart transplant. The procedure was to cost taxpayers $800,000 by some estimates, but would have extended the life of one Kenneth Pike, 55, who was flown from the state prison in Coxsackie to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, where 49 patients are awaiting donor hearts. He would have been the first New York prisoner to get the costly procedure, the Post reports, but now he's had a (sorry!) change of heart. more ›

The former Manhattan court juvenile counselor who was accused of raping a 15-year-old and sexually abusing two other teens who were in his ward was found guilty today of molesting the two teens, but acquitted of the rape. Tony Simmons was convicted of 12 sex abuse charges, two of them felonies, for sex attacks on the two girls in 2005 and 2008. He faces up to four years in prison. more ›

We were surprised yesterday when Timothy West, the man who was accused of breaking into the Ozone Park home of an Applebee's waitress, raping her twice at knife-point, and then later texting her for a date, was acquitted of all charges. This was despite the fact that the waitress had convinced West to call her, and got him to apologize for the crime on the phone, which was recorded by police and later played for jurors. It turns out that the jury flat out didn't believe the waitress's story. more ›

In Queens court yesterday, jurors heard the tape of the Applebee's waitress setting up her alleged rapist after he texted her for a second date. "Yeah, what's goin', girl? Some police to my sister's crib all lookin' for me...So, you mad at me?" Timothy West asked his victim. She confronted him about breaking into her parents house in Ozone Park, raping her twice by knife-point: "What do you mean, I'm mad at you? Of course, you know, I don't know you like that, and just over here, raping me and everything with a knife in your hand. Damn! What you gotta say about that?" more ›

We all know that sexting can get you in serious trouble, but for one accused rapist, sending a text was all it took: Timothy West allegedly broke into the home of a 21-year-old Applebee's waitress in Ozone Park, raped her twice by knifepoint in her bedroom, demanded she cook for him, and then asked for her cell phone number. Two days later, he texted her to set a date, and she called police: "I hoped he would call so I could set him up with the police," she told jurors in court yesterday. Cops taped their following conversation, and then busted him. Thankfully, we have alleged rapists who are dumb enough to go for follow-up dates. more ›

In addition to the $2,000 offered by NYPD crime stoppers, Sen. Pedro Espada and the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation each pledged $5,000 to whoever finds the man suspected of raping a 79-year-old woman with Alzheimer's in her Bronx apartment building. One investigator told the Daily News, "We have been getting lots of tips with some basic information, and following them up aggressively." A neighbor also recalls the victim ringing her doorbell after the incident, saying, "She was naked and hysterical. My sister Yolanda gave her a robe and tried to comfort her...People are shook up. Nobody is in the halls late at night and I'm concerned about my wife coming home from work." more ›

Since everyone loves the online database that maps and gives rap sheets for rapists and pedophiles, the state of New York is taking it one step further. Now, you can sign up (at this website) to be contacted by text message, email, fax or phone when one of NY's high- or moderate-risk sex offenders moves within striking distance. (Then you can set special ring tones to go along with the notifications!) The sex-offender alerts are a new feature of the Emergency Management System, which also lets New Yorkers know about road closures, storms and—conveniently for the pedophiles—missing children, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal. The AP says there are more than 30,000 registered sex offenders in the state. more ›

A level three sex offender who served 14 years for sexually abusing girls ages five to seven no longer holds the keys to 50 Manhattan apartments. Shortly after his release from prison in 2001 William Barnason was hired as the super for several Upper West Side buildings, where female tenants complained he tried to coerce them into sex-for-rent arrangements, but now he’s gotten the boot. “Mr. Barnason is no longer employed as the superintendent and will be moving out of the building he lives in the near future," said a lawyer for the child rapists’ employer. more ›

A man found guilty of multiple rapes and robberies in Brownsville was sentenced to 430 years in prison today. Boker Thomas received the four-century sentence after being found guilty of trailing seven women as they walked into elevators, stairwells and apartments in public housing projects and raping them or robbing them, according to the Daily News. more ›

Do you recognize this man? If you live in Dongan Hills on Staten Island, you may have seen him in the past week or so, but only now would you realize you crossed paths with a would-be sexual predator, wanted for trying to rape a 22-year-old domestic worker as she walked to work on the morning of January 12th. The incident happened near the Staten Island Academy and the Richmond County Country Club, and now some local residents are up in arms, because the police didn't start notifying them until yesterday. more ›

Ten years ago Demetrius Edwards pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old Brooklyn girl at gunpoint. According to the justice system, his debt to society has been repaid, so he was recently released from prison and moved into his parents' apartment, about 100 feet from the St. Raphael Elementary School on 37th Street in Queens. It's no surprise parents are panicking, but although Edwards is a sex offender with a record and a "Level Three" status—which means he's at "high risk to commit another sex crime"—nothing in the law prohibits him from living by the school. more ›

The 30-year-old fake livery cab driver who raped one woman, and attempted to rape another last February, was sentenced to 15 years behind bars yesterday. Make that 15 years and 30 days. Torkieh Sadagheh reportedly cried upon hearing his sentence, but when that got him no sympathy, he went the outburst route — which got him an extra month in the slammer for contempt of court. more ›

Police believe that a 69-year-old woman raped in her apartment building at 155th Street and Riverside Drive was attacked by the same man who raped two other women in Hamilton Heights earlier this month. The latest victim was returning home from work at 4 a.m. to 765 Riverside Drive; WCBS 2 reports, "The victim passed mailboxes on her way in through the east entrance of the building. Then [she] proceeded down the stairs to the wood-paneled foyer where her attacker was apparently waiting. The manned elevator is unmanned after 2 a.m., so she had to use the automatic elevator nearby. She opened the door and her attacker apparently crossed the room and followed her" into the elevator, where she was attacked. There's surveillance video of the suspect and the building's shocked residents are asking for additional security and lighting. In the past incidents, the suspect raped a woman in an alleyway near West 148th Street and Broadway and inside another's building near West 144 Street and Convent Avenue. more ›

If you were appalled by previous accounts of serial rapist John Hamlett and his ruthless cross-examination of one of his distraught victims during his trial, you'll be pleased to know that he was sentenced to 154 years in prison yesterday. Hamlett, whose decision to act his own lawyer during witness testimony backfired spectacularly, was convicted on all 12 counts for repeatedly breaking into the same building on East Third Street and Avenue B and sexually assaulting his victims at knife point. In giving Hamlett the maximum sentence yesterday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley regretted that he could only incarcerate him for the rest of his life: "The sentence you deserve is beyond my ability to impose, so state prison will have to do." more ›

The NY Post reports that police are "hunting for a serial rapist who prowls Manhattan's Union Square subway station for young Asian women to follow home and brutally attack." Two women were raped in their building vestibules, while the suspect "has attempted to assault two others since Oct. 1." His M.O: Waiting for women to unlock their apartment building's door and then he "pounces from behind - choking his victims unconscious before" attacking them (following victims into their buildings is a very common M.O.). Chillingly, three of the attacks occurred on one day: October 20. Police, who believe there may be more victims, tell the Post the suspect is 6 feet tall, 170 pounds, and in his late 20s. Contact CrimeStoppers at 800-577-TIPS or text CRIMES (274637) and enter "TIP577". more ›

Last week as peaceful celebrations went on in the Williamsburg part of Bedford Avenue, a rapist (who is still at large) was prowling the Crown Heights sector. NY1 reports that police are currently looking for the man (pictured), who is "between 25 to 30 years old, 5-feet-9-inches and 180 pounds." He attacked his victim last Wednesday around 4 a.m., and the NYPD tells us it was under the 71st precinct's jurisdiction (Crown Heights area). The network notes that anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers. Meanwhile, perhaps the cops brought in with riot gear that night to take care of the Obama victory revelers could have been used elsewhere? more ›

Memo to lazy dudes: If you buzz your girlfriend into the building and she's not at your door in a timely manner, you need to put Guitar Hero on pause and get your ass downstairs. On Saturday night the girlfriend of a Greenwich Village man was taking longer than usual to get upstairs to his apartment, and when he finally went down to see what happened he found that she was being raped in the building's vestibule. This happened around 7 p.m. on lower Fifth Avenue, according to the Post. So be alert! At least in this case the boyfriend was able to subdue the attacker and call the cops; the alleged rapist, 28-year-old Dean Rogich, told detectives, "I followed her into the building so I could rob her." more ›

Serial rapist John Hamlett's strategy to act as his own lawyer and cross-examine one of his victims has backfired, surprising no one except Hamlett himself. The Daily News reports that he "shook his head in disbelief" when a jury found him guilty yesterday on all 12 counts of sexual abuse, criminal sexual acts, robbery, burglary, and criminal impersonation of a police officer. In 2006, Hamlett broke into the same building on East Third Street and Avenue B three times. On the first visit, he pushed into a woman's apartment with a 10-inch knife and sexually assaulted her. Thirteen days later, he climbed through the fire-escape window into an empty apartment and stole a checkbook, returning days later and identifying himself to the female resident as a detective who had found her checkbook. During the trial, the distraught victim was forced to relive the assault by submitting to Hamlett's cross-examination; he now faces up to 165 years in prison, according to the Post. more ›

Good morning. So this happened yesterday: Rape suspect John Hamlett, a convicted sex offender, was permitted to cross-examine an unnamed woman who accuses him of breaking into her East Third Street and Avenue B apartment in 2006 and sodomizing her at knifepoint. Against the advice of his lawyer, Hamlett insisted on cross-examining the distraught woman—a doctoral student in psychology now living in San Francisco—for about an hour. His questions included "I forced you to have oral sex, right?" and "You stated I put you in a chokehold? And you felt faint?" To which she responded, "Actually, I thought I was going to die." Finally, she begged the judge to stop the questioning, saying, "Do I have to do this? I've been through this. How many times do I have to go through this?" The judge told her she did, and Hamlett continued after a recess. more ›

Joseph Wintje, a 51-year-old convicted rapist and registered sex offender, is suing his former landlord because she allegedly evicted him from his Brooklyn apartment for racist reasons. According to the Post, Wintje's discrimination complaint against 70-year-old landlord Domenica Pedone asserts that after just four days in the apartment he was given an ultimatum by Pedone when she noticed his black girlfriend around. Wintje says Pedone told him, "I don't want her coming over here." But Pedone insists she only evicted Wintje after her neighbors said he was a "bad man," what with his rape-y past and all. One thing's for sure; after this Post article, Wintje's going to have a tough time signing a lease anywhere with access to the Google machine. more ›

Robert Williams, accused of raping and torturing a Columbia University graduate student, was found guilty on 44 of 46 counts, including attempted murder, arson, torture and assault. Williams had tried to blind his victim, forced her to overdose on aspirin, and later set fire to the futon he tied her to. He could face up to life in prison. more ›