20 YRS. IN PARK RAPE
Ex-con attacked woman in B’klyn after she took grandkids to party
A Bible-toting felon with a criminal past was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for raping a Brooklyn grandmother multiple times during a terrifying 2018 attack in Prospect Park.
Mowngly Lucas, 32, a homeless man with a lengthy rap sheet, stood mutely during the Brooklyn Supreme Court hearing, declining to speak as his outraged victim detailed the lingering nightmares of that day.
“My life was forever changed,” read a statement from the 63-year-old woman, who attended the sentencing and remains haunted by the sexual assaults. “The emotional impact will be felt for years to come.”
The woman required therapy and anti-anxiety medications after the attack that occurred a short time after she dropped off her grandchildren for a birthday party, said Assistant District Attorney Linda Weinman.
“He is a threat to the safety of the people of Brooklyn,” she said.
Authorities said Lucas was unapologetic about the the Nov. 18, 2018, rape where he jumped the woman from behind before putting her in a chokehold, and the victim expressed her outrage at his claims of a consensual encounter.
“I just got out of jail, and I don’t care,” authorities quoted Lucas as telling his victim during the assaults.
Prosecutors charged Lucas threatened to stab and shoot the woman, then raped her three times — the last after breaking into a parked van.
Lucas was carrying a Bible during the assaults, and left the good book at the scene of the heinous crime, authorities said. The victim recalled Lucas telling her “you won’t be around to see your grandkids” while he violated her.
“How did he know I had grandkids?” she asked after the hearing. “That really scared me.”
Justice Heidi Cesare, who also sentenced Lucas to 15 years of postrelease supervision and called for his inclusion on the sex offender registry, said she was sending a message.
“It’s intended to protect society from you,” she said. “Brooklyn is a city of millions of people who wish to remain safe. Brooklyn is home to countless women, grandmothers, who should be able to take their grandchildren to a party ... and go home.”
Cesare then addressed the victim: “Your words are important. The court hears you. The court heard you when you testified.”
A tipster identified Lucas as a former resident of a Queens homeless shelter, with police using video footage to track him before his November 2018 arrest.
Lucas was living at the time in a hotel-turned-homeless shelter near LaGuardia Airport, and was on the streets after his release five months earlier on a Brooklyn robbery arrest.
The defendant had served a pair of state prison sentences.
The judge ignored defense attorney John Godfrey’s statement that his client maintained innocence in the attack and rejected his call for a shorter sentence. Lucas previously did time for weapons possession and attempted robbery.
The victim said she started taking self-defense classes after surviving the rape.
“I could have lost it and never come back,” she said. “I refuse to let anyone take my life away from me in that sense.”