2 SICK SEX ASSAULTS
DA: Brooklyn man posed as spiritual healer to lure vics
A self-proclaimed spiritual healer lured two women to creepy private ceremonies in Brooklyn, where he knocked them out with an alcoholtasting liquid and raped them, prosecutors alleged Wednesday.
Nigel Kennedy, 51, was arraigned on a 13-count indictment in Brooklyn Supreme Court that charged him with incapacitating and raping two women during attacks in August 2016 and May 2018. He pleaded not guilty. During the May 16 attack, Kennedy allegedly ambushed a 28-year-old woman during what she thought would be a spiritual reading at his home in East Flatbush.
Kennedy blew smoke in the woman’s face and poured a substance that tasted like alcohol into her mouth, causing her to vomit and pass out, prosecutors say.
When the woman eventually woke up, her pants were missing and Kennedy was having intercourse with her, prosecutors said.
The victim tried to push Kennedy off and told him to stop. “Relax, it’s part of the ritual,” Kennedy told her, according to prosecutors.
On Aug. 30, 2016, Kennedy allegedly lured a 42-year-old woman to another apartment in East Flatbush for what she thought would be a religious ceremony.
Kennedy started speaking in tongues and poured a clear liquid that tasted like alcohol into the woman’s mouth, causing her to lose consciousness, prosecutors said.
The victim told authorities she woke up at one point and felt someone on top of her but was unable to move and then passed out again.
When she eventually woke up at 5 a.m. the next day, naked on a bed, Kennedy claimed he didn’t know what happened to her clothes, prosecutors said.
The woman left the apartment and suffered from nausea, vomiting and dizziness throughout the day.
Both victims went to hospitals after the rapes and DNA recovered from both women matched to Kennedy, prosecutors said.
Kennedy was arrested Sept. 7 after arriving at Kennedy Airport from Trinidad.
“We allege that this defendant is a sexual predator who used his religious stature to lure women, then drugged and raped them,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “We will now seek to hold him accountable for these despicable alleged acts.”
Gonzalez encouraged other possible victims to contact the DA’s Action Center at (718) 250-2340.
During the arraignment Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Gwen Barnes said Kennedy met both of his alleged victims at a religious store he owned in the neighborhood.
Barnes asked that Kennedy’s bail be increased to $150,000.
Defense attorney Christopher Perks argued Kennedy was not a flight risk.
“He never missed a court date. He dropped everything he had to do today to respect his commitment,” Perks said.
Judge William Miller kept Kennedy’s bail at $35,000, which Kennedy previously posted.
“These are obviously very serious allegations. Very, very serious cases,” Miller said. “Stay away from complainants, but today I’m not going to increase your bail.”
Kennedy left the courtroom after the hearing and declined to speak with the Daily News.
A woman returned a call placed to one of his numbers after the arraignment and screamed anti-gay obscenities at a News reporter while demanding to know who was taking photos of Kennedy outside the courthouse.
“How dare you? How dare you?” the woman, who declined to give her name, said. “Are you trying to destroy my life? Are you trying to make me lose my job?”
She claimed “nothing happened today in court. Nothing happened.”
Neighboring shopkeepers said Kennedy’s now-shuttered shop had a black screen with candles in front and smelled of incense.
“He was a nice guy and was always nice to me,” one shopkeeper said, asking to remain anonymous.
Kennedy was ordered to return to court Dec. 11.