Prosecutor Not Only Lawyer Reporting Harassment by Accused Riverside Park Rapist
A second lawyer has reported alleged harassment by a man accused of raping a tourist in New York’s Riverside Park.
A grand jury is considering a rape charge against the man, Hugues-Denver Akassy, who claims the sexual encounter with the tourist was consensual, the New York Times reports. About 10 women have come forward in response to a request by prosecutors to report information about the man, including an assistant district attorney reporting allegations “of a sexual nature.”
Now the Times is reporting that a 25-year-old associate at a Manhattan law firm reported Akassy to police based on incidents in early 2009. He was charged with harassment; the case is pending.
According to the Times, people have described Akassy as “sophisticated and charming, yet also homeless and terrifying.” He claims to be an international television reporter, and woos women by praising their beauty.
The associate, who wants to remain anonymous, told the Times that Akassy first approached her as she was entering a movie theater in February 2009 where she was meeting her boyfriend. Akassy asked if she was European, and she told him she was in a hurry and walked away.
About a month later, she told the Times, Akassy caught up with her as she was walking into her apartment building. “Do you remember me?” he asked. He said he had been watching her, and talked about his television show. She gave him her e-mail address, she said, to get him to leave.
He later sent an e-mail telling the woman she was attractive and asking her to meet for coffee, the Times says. “Just two companions who enjoy each other company to explore the beauties of life,” he wrote.
The woman’s boyfriend wrote to Akassy and asked him to stop contacting the woman. Later Akassy allegedly followed the woman down the street and yelled at her.
Two other cases against Akassy accuse him of trespassing, the Times says. In one, he is accused of looking into a woman’s apartment from a fire escape. In another he is accused of entering a New York Sports Club after he was banned from the premises.
