Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Man indicted in Central Park rape case

  • A 42-year-old man is accused of raping a 73-year-old woman in Central Park
  • The alleged attack took place in daylight
  • The man also is accused of attacking other women

New York (CNN) -- The Manhattan district attorney indicted a man Tuesday in the daylight rape of a 73-year-old woman in Central Park in September.

David Albert Mitchell, 42, faces 10 charges in New York State Supreme Court, including first-degree rape and sexually motivated robbery, District Attorney Cy Vance's office announced.

The woman said she had witnessed a man masturbating in Central Park a few weeks prior to the rape and took a photo for evidence, the DA's office said in a news release.

On September 12, a man approached the woman and asked if she recognized him; when she tried to walk away, the man choked and raped her, the office said.

Among the 10 charges on which Mitchell was indicted Tuesday, two are misdemeanor sex-abuse charges alleging attacks on two other women immediately after the rape.

In addition, Mitchell faces one felony count and one misdemeanor count alleging that he pulled a knife on a man in Central Park three weeks before the rape.

Mitchell's attorney declined to comment on Tuesday's indictment.

After Mitchell's arrest in mid-September, Paul Browne, deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department, said Mitchell has an extensive arrest record in Virginia and West Virginia.

He was charged with murder and sexual assault in 1989 but was acquitted the following year, Browne said, and in May 2003, Mitchell was convicted of abduction and kidnapping in Virginia and sentenced to eight years in prison.

CNN's Jason Kessler contributed to this report.

 
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