The suspect who allegedly attempted to rape a Central Park sunbather has a long history of sexual abuse, police reported Wednesday.
Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny revealed on July 2 that 43-year-old Jermaine Longmire allegedly attacked a 21-year-old woman as she sunbathed in a secluded area of Central Park on June 24. Kenny told journalists that police deployed great resources to bring the pervert to justice — including forensic testing that tied Longmire to the crime through analysis of DNA evidence.
Cops said the suspect exposed himself and tackled the victim to the ground in the Great Hills section of the park, located at West Drive and West 104th Street at around 1:30 p.m. on June 24. The sunbather managed to fight her attacker off and flee.
During the investigation that ensued, police located a witness who saw the direction the suspect fled.
“Detectives were able to conduct a video canvass to follow this person to West 104th Street where they were able to pull video from a commercial establishment that gave us a clear image of the perpetrator’s face. This image was submitted to our facial recognition system which produced a match,” Chief Kenny said.
Although this clue did not give cops enough evidence to cuff Longmire for the crime, Kenny noted, detectives found out that he had an active warrant for his arrest for groping another woman’s buttocks in March of this year.
“He has eight prior arrests in New York City and he has a substantial arrest history out of state in Florida, Maryland and New Jersey,” Kenny said. “Further computer work revealed that he was also a perpetrator involved in a two-incident forcible touching pattern that took place in the transit system in 2023. Once again Longmire would run up behind unsuspecting women and forcibly grab their intimate parts.”
The NYPD moved quickly to locate Longmire and take him into custody for the slew of other sexual assaults. But at first, they lacked sufficient evidence to charge him for the sunbather attack.
That’s when the DNA evidence came through.
While Longmire was in custody, the Special Victims Division detectives were able to link Longmire to the Central Park incident via genetic material found on the victim’s bikini bottoms.
On July 3, Longmire was indicted on first-degree counts of attempted rape and sexual abuse.
“As alleged, Jermaine Longmire attempted to rape a woman in Central Park while she was sunbathing last month. Our parks should be a place where New Yorkers can relax without fearing for their safety, and this alleged conduct will not be tolerated,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. “Our Special Victims Division has the resources to both hold offenders accountable and support survivors as they heal; please call us at 212-335-9373.”
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