D.A. Bragg: Attorney Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Sexually Assaulting Three Women After Following Them Into Their Apartment Buildings


January 26, 2023

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr., today announced the sentencing of RASHAUN KELLEY, 40, to 12 years in state prison and 15 years of post-release supervision for sexually assaulting three women between December 16, 2014, and January 14, 2015, after following them into their apartment buildings. On November 1, 2022, a New York Supreme Court jury found KELLEY guilty of all of the charges against him, including one count of Attempted Rape in the First Degree, three counts of Burglary in the Second Degree as a Sexually Motivated Felony, two counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, one count of Attempted Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, and one count of Criminal Obstruction of Breath and Blood Circulation.
 
“This sentence sends the message that in New York, cold cases do not go forgotten,” said District Attorney Bragg. “DNA evidence coupled with an anonymous tip received years after these horrifying crimes of escalating violence led to Rashaun Kelley’s arrest, and ultimately, to today’s sentencing. I would like to thank the attorneys in my Office for their diligent work on this prosecution and trial, and the NYPD officers who investigated and made this cold case arrest. Most of all, I thank the three survivors for their courage in testifying at trial, and hope today’s prison sentence helps close this chapter in their lives.”
 
As proven at trial, KELLEY, then a licensed attorney, first followed a 23-year-old woman into her East Village apartment building at approximately 12:45 a.m. on December 16, 2014, where he took advantage of the late-night hours and small confines of an elevator to corner her and grope her. The next day, at approximately 4:20 a.m., KELLEY followed a 20-year-old woman into her Sugar Hill apartment building, where he pursued her to the back of her empty lobby hallway, captured her, covered her mouth and took her phone away from her – preventing her from calling for help – and groped her. Finally, on January 14, 2015, at approximately 2:15 a.m., KELLEY followed a 32-year-old woman into her Lower East Side apartment, where he similarly pursued her in the narrow lobby hallway, grabbed her, fought with her while pulling down her pants, and put his hand around her neck before fleeing, leaving behind a pair of headphones containing his DNA. After the NYPD received an anonymous tip in late 2018, KELLEY was identified, found to be a match to the DNA recovered from the headphones, and arrested.

Former Assistant D.A. Raffaela Belizaire and Assistant D.A. Angie Morelli handled the prosecution of the case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Shannon Lucey (Deputy Chief of the Sex Crimes Unit), Nicole Blumberg (Chief of the Sex Crimes Unit), Michael Ohm (Deputy Chief of the Rackets Bureau), Judy Salwen (Principal Deputy Chief of the Rackets Bureau) and Jodie Kane (Chief of the Rackets Bureau). Assistant D.A.s William Mahoney (Counsel to the Trial Division), Coleen Balbert (Deputy Chief of the Forensic Sciences Unit), and Melissa Mourges (Chief of the Forensic Sciences Unit) provided valuable assistance, as did Chief DNA Specialist Christopher Kamnik, Trial Preparation Assistant Christopher O’Hara, Sex Crimes Paralegal Abigail Simon, and Deputy Chief Investigators Jonathan Reid and Elena Lui.
 
District Attorney Bragg thanked the NYPD’s Manhattan Special Victims Squad.
 
Defendant Information:
 
RASHAUN KELLEY
Bronx, NY
 
Convicted:

  • Attempted Rape in the First Degree, a class C felony, one count
  • Burglary in the Second Degree as a Sexually Motivated Felony, a class C felony, three counts
  • Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, a class D felony, two counts
  • Attempted Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, a class E felony, one count
  • Criminal Obstruction of Breath and Blood Circulation, a class A misdemeanor, one count

Sentenced:

  • 12 years in state prison
  • 15 years of post-release supervision

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