City man sentenced 15 years for sexual assault charges

Conviction stems from ’12 incident

WOONSOCKET — A Superior Court judge sentenced a city man to 15 years in prison Tuesday following his conviction on multiple counts of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in 2012.

Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini sentenced Jamal Rogers, 24, to 30 years in all, with 15 to serve at the Adult Correctional Institutions and 15 suspended, with probation. Procaccini also ordered Rogers to have no contact with the victim upon the completion of his prison sentence, undergo sex offender counseling and to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

A Superior Court jury convicted Rogers of five counts of second-degree child molestation after a trial in January, according to Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for the Attorney General.

“The victim showed great bravery in reporting the sexual assault and identifying her

Continued from page A1 assailant, which resulted in a sexual predator being sent to prison,” said Attorney General Peter Kilmartin.

During the trial, the state proved that Rogers sexually assaulted the victim on Feb. 2, 2012 at Cass Park.

The victim testified that she was on the swing set in the park after school when the defendant – a complete stranger – approached her. She testified that she asked him for the time, to which he replied he did not have a watch and then asked her if she had any marijuana. She said no and then began to walk toward a nearby school to check the time.

The defendant grabbed her and pulled her into a wooded area behind the swing set, where he sexually assaulted her.

After the assault, the victim was able to escape, running to the home of her grandparents. Although they asked if she was okay, she didn’t tell them about the assault because she didn’t want to upset them, she testified.

The following day, the victim confided in a school counselor, who in turn reported the assault to a school resource officer from the Woonsocket Police Department. The victim later identified the defendant from a photo array shown to her by the police.

Woonsocket Police Detective Sgt. Matthew Ryan led the investigation and State Prosecutor Alison DeCosta argued the case on behalf of Kilmartin’s office.