SEX OFFENDER INDICTED IN RAPE OF 71 YEAR OLD LONG ISLAND CITY WOMAN; DEFENDANT ARRESTED FOLLOWING SEARCH OF MEGAN'S LAW REGISTRY

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the indictment of a 30 year old Queens man arrested last Monday night on charges of sexually assaulting a 71 year old resident of the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City.

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as James Singleton, 30, of 41-09 Vernon Boulevard, a building located within the Queensbridge Houses development where the crime took place.

District Attorney Brown said, "The defendant is alleged to have approached the victim as she was entering her apartment on Sunday, October 18 at about 8:30 pm. As she opened her door she was pushed into her apartment. Once inside her attacker told her that he would kill her unless she did what he wanted her to do. The defendant, it is alleged, then brutally raped and sodomized her. It was an appalling crime committed against an elderly woman -- a crime for which the defendant, if convicted, could spend the rest of his life in prison. And that would be only fitting."

The defendant was arrested last Monday night at his residence and was ordered held without bail following his arraignment on Tuesday. He is charged in the indictment with one count each of rape, sodomy and burglary and six counts of sexual abuse. Under the provisions of Jenna's Law, which was enacted last summer, he faces 96 years in prison upon conviction.

District Attorney Brown noted that, "The defendant was identified and apprehended through the Sex Offender Registry established under Megan's Law which took effect in January 1996. The law mandates the registration of convicted sex offenders such as this defendant who was convicted of a similar crime in 1987. When the victim in this case said that her attacker had told her that his name was "James" and that he had been in jail on a prior sexual assault, alert detectives ran the name through the registry and tracked the defendant down. He was later identified by the victim."

Assistant District Attorney Marjory D. Fisher who is in charge of the District Attorney's Special Victims Bureau, which is under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Gregory L. Lasak, is in charge of the prosecution.

It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.