Brooklyn man gets 20 years for raping a woman he helped walk home

December 23, 2022 Rob Abruzzese

The Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, located at 320 Jay St. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese

Share this:

BROWNSVILLE — A 44-year-old from East New York who raped a woman after he helped her and a friend get home from a party was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Judge Donald Leo in the Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term on Wednesday.

Following a jury trial this past May, Jason Lopez was convicted of first-degree rape and third-degree robbery.

“This was a horrific attack that left a young woman traumatized and a community shaken,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “With today’s sentence, the defendant is held accountable for this deplorable crime. I am committed to bringing to justice those who commit such brutal acts of sexual violence.”

On Dec. 1, 2018, Lopez approached his 20-year-old victim and a friend at approximately 2 A.M. near the corner of Herzl Street and Dumont Avenue as they were returning home from a party. He helped his victim get her friend a taxi, but after the car left, Lopez grabbed his victim, led her into a park, and raped her.

At trial, prosecutors were able to show that after offering to walk his victim home, Lopez led her into Betsy Head Park in Brownsville, asked if she wanted to have sex, and then threw her to the ground and raped her. Afterward, Lopez ran off with his victim’s cell phone. After she yelled for help, a bystander called 911.

Law enforcement was able to identify Lopez fairly quickly and arrested him within two weeks after they took DNA from his victim’s rape kit and matched it to DNA on file from a prior felony conviction.