A RAPE suspect allegedly tried to sexually assault a woman just 10 days after he was released from Rikers Island amid coronavirus fears.

Robert Pondexter, 57, from Brooklyn was reportedly arrested for trying to attack another woman less than two weeks after he walked from the notorious NYC prison as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

He was being held at the island prison on a previous rape charge when he allegedly attacked a different woman he used drugs with, according to the New York Post.

Sources told the newspaper the NYPD booked him Saturday after he allegedly grabbed a 58-year-old woman by the collar in an apartment complex before dragging her into a school parking lot.

The victim claims Pondexter began choking her, demanded oral sex, and insisted she pull her pants down before she managed to kick the alleged rapist away.

Pondexter was arrested at the scene on East New York Avenue while the woman was rushed to hospital.

He is now facing multiple charges relating to the attempted rape.

The alleged rapist was released from Rikers – where convicted sex pest Harvey Weinstein was briefly held – on April 15 in an effort to improve social distancing, according to the Post.

Overcrowded New York state prisons have struggled to mitigate the spread of the infection amongst over 40,000 prisoners and Rikers is no exception.

The news comes as NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed that a whopping 2,000 inmates walked free since the middle of March as correctional facilities were pummeled by the infection.

Pondexter's release came after advocates highlighted the horrific conditions at Rikers.

“I think it’s unconscionable just on a human level that folks were shown mercy and this is what some of them have done,” De Blasio said at a press briefing last week.

“We do see some recidivism. I have not seen a huge amount, but any amount is obviously troubling."

The mayor insisted the City was “buckling down” on reoffenders who were taking advantage of the crisis, however.

When reports of the conditions at Rikers came to light last month, many advocates said releasing prisoners was necessary as thousands of infections emerged.

When pressed about the release of vulnerable prisoners at a press briefing today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo asked “how about if they’re violent & they just started their sentence.”

“We’re already doing that. Next question," he told reporters Sunday.

Brooklyn attorney Scott Hechinger took to Twitter on March 23 to highlight the "unimaginably bad" conditions that threatened its 5,294 inmates.

Hechinger urged de Blasio, Cuomo, and District Attorneys to "do something ASAP" to prevent "mass deaths" there.

"People trapped on Rikers right now are sleeping close enough to reach out and touch the next person," he wrote. "[They] are being served food on dirty food trays."

"There is one toilet for every 29 people trapped on Rikers Island right now," Hechinger said, adding that people who want to be tested are not.

The "horrifying" alleged conditions on the island are reportedly contrary to the advice from health experts, urging Americans to socially distance themselves and isolate.

MOST READ IN NEWS

Hechinger claimed food servers don't wear masks at the facility, which previously housed Weinstein, who subsequently tested positive.

When asked about releasing prisoners Sunday, Cuomo

Source: Read Full Article