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Ex-con Howard Shaw was arrested and held without bail on Nov. 12 for allegedly attacking a female jogger on Randalls Island. The scary incident occurred just two days before he was released from prison after serving more than nine years behind bars for a previous rape conviction stemming from 2005, The New York Post reported.
On the morning of Nov. 11, reports say Shaw approached a 54-year-old jogger, who has not been identified, at the 103rd Street Footbridge on East River Lane on Randall’s Island. According to the criminal complaint, Shaw put his arm around the victim’s neck and strangled her, nearly causing her to fall unconscious. Shaw, a registered sex offender, then attempted to put his hands down her pants and groped the victim, the complaint noted. A bystander caught Shaw in the act and called the police. He was arrested on the scene, authorities said. During the attack, Shaw allegedly told the victim, “I don’t want to rape you, I just want sex.” Shaw was on his second day of parole.
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Shaw, 38, is being charged with first-degree attempted rape in addition to second-degree strangulation and first-degree sexual abuse. He is also ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 2. The victim sustained bruising and cut injuries to the face, neck, arms, and legs along with “substantial pain,” The New York Post added.
Former NYPD detective Joe Giacalone was outraged by the city’s decision to release Shaw and questioned whether he was properly rehabilitated before his release.
“He’s out two days and he was convicted for rape, and he’s out two days trying to commit another rape,” he told CBS 2 News. “So apparently whatever they did for him in prison didn’t work. And they have to now go back and figure out what didn’t work for him and try to fix it,” Giacalone added.
Shaw was previously convicted of a 2005 robbery case where he attacked and raped a 25-year-old woman as she was taking out the trash.
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