Man charged with sexual assault in Bronx, partially captured on disturbing video

New York: The video captures a disturbing scene: a woman is walking along a sidewalk in the Bronx borough of New York early on an early May morning when a man with his face covered approaches her from behind. He throws a loop belt around the woman’s neck and knocks her to the ground. She loses consciousness. He drags her between two parked cars.

Then, police say, he sexually abused her.

The scenes captured on video left many South Bronx residents fearful. On Saturday, police said they had arrested one man in connection with the attack – Kashaan Parks, 39, also of the Bronx.

Parks faces multiple charges, including rape, assault, strangulation, sexual abuse and harassment. Police said Parks was arrested two other times: once in 2018 for domestic violence and in 2013 for theft on public transit. It was not immediately clear if there was any connection between Parks and the woman.

The attack occurred around 5 a.m. on May 1 near the intersection of East 152nd Street and Third Avenue. The woman, whose name was not released, was taken to Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx after the attack. She did not report the attack to authorities, Joseph Kenny, the police department’s chief detective, told reporters at a briefing Friday.

Police learned of the attack when they saw surveillance camera footage shared online, Kenny said.

Officials were trying to determine where the video came from, he said. Then an officer from a Bronx precinct where the woman was attacked realized he already knew where the victim was: She was in police custody and accused of a minor crime, Kenny said.

“Then she enlightens us and says, ‘Yes,’ she was the victim,” he said.

Police did not respond to questions about any charges she may have faced in connection with the minor crime. But Kenny said the woman is working with officers on the rape investigation.

It was not immediately clear whether Parks had an attorney.

According to police, more than 500 rapes had been reported to authorities in New York City this year through early May – about the same number as in the same period last year.

It’s not uncommon for survivors of sexual violence not to report assaults to police, said Maureen Curtis, vice president of criminal justice programs at Safe Horizon, a nonprofit that places domestic violence counselors in city police departments.

“Survivors may be reluctant to report to the police because they fear they will be accused or convicted by the police; that their family or friends might be upset about them getting the police involved,” she said. “Or they may be wondering whether it’s worth calling the police because they think the case won’t go anywhere. Then why should they put themselves through this additional trauma?”

They may also feel like they are putting themselves at risk of being attacked again, Curtis said.

New York City has had problems investigating sexual assaults: In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into police handling of sex crimes. The investigation came after rape survivors and victim advocates criticized the department’s practices for years.

This year, a series of sexual assaults across Manhattan by a single perpetrator drew even more police attention.

In recent years, police have made “some progress” in handling such cases, said Jane Manning, a former city prosecutor and now director of the Women’s Equal Justice Project, a nonprofit that supports rape survivors across the country. She said it was great that police appeared to be treating the May attack survivor as a victim and prioritizing the investigation into her rape.

“It’s an example of what a difference good, sensitive policing can make,” she said, adding: “But we still have a long way to go.”