Central Park Rapist Charged

The suspect in the attempted rape The suspect, who was sunbathing in New York’s Central Park last month, has been charged, authorities said Wednesday.

Jermaine Longmire, 43, who has eight arrests in New York and a “substantial arrest history” in several other states, was identified as the suspect after his DNA matched evidence left at the alleged crime scene, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said.

Longmire, charged with attempted first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse, both felonies, appeared in court Wednesday.

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Portrait of an attempted rape suspect who attacked a woman in Central Park in June. Jermaine Longmire, 43, has been charged in the alleged attack. (NYPD)

“Our parks should be a place where New Yorkers can relax without fear for their safety, and this alleged conduct will not be tolerated,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.

Longmire was already in custody and charged with another crime committed in 2023 involving individuals allegedly forced touching in a metro station.

Police have cordoned off the area where a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted while sunbathing in the park. (Fox News)

The most recent attack took place around 1:30 p.m., when police intervened in an area of Central Park near 104th Street for a report of attempted rape of a female victim. A 21-year-old woman was sunbathing alone in a secluded part of the park when a black man, believed to be in his 30s, approached her and began exposing himself.

Authorities said she got up and tried to flee when her attacker attacked her from behind. She managed to fight off her attacker, police said.

Investigators reviewed surveillance video and were able to obtain an image of the attacker that matched Longmire’s in a facial recognition system, police said. DNA collected from the woman’s bikini also matched Longmire’s, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said.