What to Know
- A New York City man was sentenced to decades in prison for repeatedly assaulting a woman in 2021 onboard a northbound A train, according to local prosecutors.
- Dashwan Lewis, 32, and from the Bronx, was sentenced earlier this week to 25 years in prison and 20 years of post-release supervision after being convicted in March of first-degree rape, three counts of first-degree criminal sexual act, third-degree robbery, forcible touching, and theft of services. Upon his eventual release, Lewis must also register as a sex offender.
- When the woman 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. She was taken to a hospital, where a sexual assault kit was prepared -- the results matched the DNA of Lewis.
A New York City man was sentenced to decades in prison for repeatedly assaulting a woman in 2021 onboard a northbound A train, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.
Dashwan Lewis, 32, and from the Bronx, was sentenced earlier this week to 25 years in prison and 20 years of post-release supervision after being convicted in March of first-degree rape, three counts of first-degree criminal sexual act, third-degree robbery, forcible touching, and theft of services. Upon his eventual release, Lewis must also register as a sex offender.
Lewis conviction and sentence stem from the events that unfolded in the early morning of Aug. 11, 2021. It was on that day, at around 3:20 a.m. that a 24-year-old woman waiting for the subway at the Liberty Avenue station in East New York, when Lewis started speaking to her and she ignored him.
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However, according to the evidence, the woman got up to board the train and Lewis touched her buttocks, boarded the train and started to yell at her in front of two other passengers before moving into a different subway car.
The woman, who was crying, called her friend on Facetime, but the call dropped, according to the evidence presented by the district attorney's office. However, when the two other passengers got off the train at the next stop, Lewis came back into the car, told her “don’t make me mess up your pretty face,” and forced her to perform a sex act while filming it, prosecutors said, adding that the woman was then raped and then forced her to perform a sex act, took her ID and left the train.
When the woman 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. She was taken to a hospital, where a sexual assault kit was prepared.
News
Lewis was subsequently 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.
“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," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.
