By Gus Saltonstall
A man has been arrested and indicted in connection to the Central Park rape attempt that took place last week, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Jermaine Longmire, 43, was charged with attempted rape in the first degree and sexual abuse in the first degree, according to the DA’s Office.
“As alleged, Jermaine Longmire attempted to rape a woman in Central Park while she was sunbathing last month,” Bragg said in a news release. “Our parks should be a place where New Yorkers can relax without fearing for their safety, and this alleged conduct will not be tolerated.”
A 21-year-old woman was sunbathing in the Great Hill section of Central Park near West 104th Street around 1:30 p.m. on June 24, when Longmire approached her while exposing himself, according to the DA’s Office. The woman screamed and attempted to run away, but he tackled her from behind, the DA added.
The woman fought Longmire off and he ran down West Drive within the park, according to the DA.
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May he spend the rest of his life some place where he won’t be bothered by the sun.
Book him Dano!
Put him in!
Throw the key away!
My preference would be requiring that Dicks like these get castrated so they permanently suffer from their sins.
Bravo to NYPD! Great work. Give him his due process and then hopefully lock him up for the max penalty. And let all the other would-be criminals know that this guy was caught, charged and punished so they think twice. Deterrence really does work.
Bragg talking “Our parks should be a place where New Yorkers can relax without fearing for their safety, and this alleged conduct will not be tolerated.”
What the hell does this even mean, when the alleged perp allegedly has half a dozen active cases like this in multiple states, and multiple other crimes charges?! Why is he not in prison or mental ward for life? How many more women need to be victimized? Who didn’t do their job the third time around? Why are they still employed?
Bragg talks right, but walks left.
Per other media reports, the person arrested has criminal history in several states.
He has been staying at a homeless shelter on 123rd Street.
That’s not what NYPD’s Joseph Kenny said during a press conf yesterday. He said Longmire lived at 60 W. 104th Street. See minute 25:00 of this YouTube video for the start of his recounting of the crime and the investigation. He gives the address at around 27:20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOzvg7TLXYI
From CBS News: According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Longmire, who is currently residing at a homeless shelter on 123rd Street…
I know of more than one homeless person who has a residential address on record, but they live on the street or in shelters. The home address could belong to a friend or family member.
Anytime anyone is a victim of crime it’s unacceptable. I know there will be accusations of victim blaming for my feelings, but as a mother of 4, grandmother of 7, and survivor as a woman in nyc in the 1970s, we need to have compassionate discussions with young women to be cautious. Sunbathing alone in a relatively deserted part of the park is not advised. We need to give the next generation solid footing in being streetwise and safe. We don’t live in an ideal world, but we can take steps to keep predators at bay. I feel very sorry for every victim. But if we take these opportunities to reinforce safety mindsets, there will hopefully be fewer.
No sitting in the park in the middle of the afternoon? And what else?
This is not the first time and it will sadly not be the last time that we hear that a homeless person with an extensive criminal record staying at a homeless shelter in the upper west side, has either raped, attempted to rape or killed a woman going about her business.
A few years back a convicted sexual predator staying at a homeless shelter on 83rd st between Columbus and Amsterdam attacked a young woman in an attempted rape , at 84th street and Central Park West, while she was out walking her dog. He broke her back and sternum during the attack and irreparably forever changed her life. Last year on 83rd st between Columbus and Amsterdam a recently released convicted criminal -working as a super, as part of a city sponsored work program for convicted felons, killed a woman in her apartment. She had not been notified of his criminal record and in his capacity of super he had access to her apartment. These are just two examples amongst the many others we have heard about over the years. as a result of the city’s efforts to house people with criminal records, drug addiction and mental health illnesses in shelters in the upper west side and other neighborhoods in less than optimal conditions.
We all know what happened to a young woman in Chinatown last year when she was killed by a homeless man with a criminal record and serios mental health illness staying at a shelter only a few blocks from her apartment .
It is time we hold the city accountable for the crimes inflicted on innocent people by convicted criminals, drug traffickers and drug offenders and the mentally ill who are served by the city in shelters in less than safe and optimal conditions.
At a minimum the city should report online who is staying on these shelters. There should be a map of where the shelters are located and we should be able to find out if sex offenders are living in such places.
The NY Sex Offender Registry is searchable by name, county, or zip code: https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/SomsSUBDirectory/search_index.jsp
Per the write up in amny.com, “Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny noted, detectives found out that he had an active warrant for his arrest for groping another woman’s buttocks in March of this year”.
Imagine a world in which cops and DAs, etc., actually took issues like skipping out on warrants seriously. (Let’s not get into the whole deal of people being released pending future court dates.. that’s a completely other story, all together).
Is there a link for sex offenders at homeless shelters ? Homeless shelters are not permanent housing. In most instances to encourage homeless individuals to accept housing and accept help accommodations are in place so that all they need to do is to sign in on the day they are at any facility.
These type of accommodations make it very difficult to track repeating sex offenders, drug delinquency and criminality all around.