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Port Jervis resident Lionel Williams, 44, was convicted by a jury trial of attempted rape and two counts of tampering with physical evidence following an incident in September last year involving a prostitute he called.
Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said that late on Sept. 16 last year, Williams sent a text message to a Port Jervis prostitute, setting a meeting on Main Street for a sexual encounter. Williams then proceeded to send a second message, canceling the arrangement.
Shortly after midnight on Sept. 17, Williams went to the arranged location, where the woman had arrived. He proceeded to follow her for several blocks, unbeknownst to her. Williams then grabbed the woman from behind, dragged her down an embankment near the Delaware River and attempted to rape her.
Williams would go on to leave the scene and later deleted the text messages from his phone to the prostitute and disposed of the clothes he was wearing at the time of the assault. When he is sentenced later this year, Williams will face a term of up to 15 years in prison, as well as possible consecutive sentenced of between two and four years behind bars for the tampering charges.
“Sex crimes are despicable,” Hoovler said. “No one, woman, man, or child, should be forced to endure them. My Office takes sex offenses very seriously, and we will seek significant, appropriate sentences for those who commit them. As a result of this conviction, some measure of justice will be done for the victim of the defendant’s crime, and the defendant will be punished for his actions.”
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