Man rapes woman, laughs as he walks away, police say
A convicted sex offender is accused of tackling and raping a woman outside of a Fort Lauderdale apartment complex, then slapping her and laughing as he walked away, police said.
James Hodge, 41, of Fort Lauderdale, on Wednesday was charged with three counts of sexual assault in connection with the Oct. 5 attack in the 2600 block of Middle River Drive, just east of Federal Highway. He is being held in Broward County Jail on $750,000 bond.
Hodge allegedly walked up to the woman at about 1:30 a.m. on the front lawn of an apartment complex, knocked her down and when she screamed, he squeezed her until she passed out, police say.
When the woman regained consciousness, her pants were down. She tried to fight off her attacker, but he raped her, according to the police report.
The attack lasted 30 minutes with several cars going by. The woman tried to alert the drivers, but the man put his hand over her mouth so she couldn’t breathe, she told police.
The assailant told her not to move or say anything until he was gone. Then he slapped her on the stomach and laughed, according to the police report.
The woman ran to the nearby apartment complex and started knocking on doors, pleading for help. She called a friend to pick her up, then called police and told investigators she had never before seen the man who attacked her, according to the report.
The woman described her attacker as being 40-45 years old, about 6 feet tall and with a large build. She also said the man had a tattoo on his lower right leg, police said.
A sketch of the attacker was released by police Oct. 9. Police used DNA from a rape kit to link Hodge to the crime.
Hodge was first arrested in 2000 and convicted of fondling a child under age 16. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but was released in 2011. He was arrested in 2011 for a probation violation.
Staff researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report