Last month, a jury in state Supreme Court, St. George, convicted Thomas Fields, 25, of two counts of predatory sexual assault stemming from the Nov. 7, 2008 rape of the victim, then 18.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A resolute rape victim stared down her assailant in court at his sentencing today, vowing to get on with her life, despite his attempt to destroy it.
"You were looking to harm me, but I just became more stronger," the woman told Thomas Fields after Senior Court Clerk Carmine Taverna opened the floor for statements. "After today, I will move on and I will feel safer that you are away and will not be able to harm or destroy another female’s life."
"I wish I could forgive and forget, but I can’t," she said, moments before Fields, a three-time rapist, was sentenced to 50 years to life.
Last month, a jury in state Supreme Court, St. George, convicted Fields, 25, of two counts of predatory sexual assault stemming from the Nov. 7, 2008 rape of the victim, then 18. The panel returned the verdict after deliberating five days.
Prosecutors said Fields attacked the victim around 2 a.m. as she walked home in Mariners Harbor.
Fields put her in a chokehold and pulled her behind a church at the corner of Brabant Street and Harbor Road.
After the defendant raped her, the teen tried to flee. Fields grabbed her and forced her to perform a sex act, said prosecutors.
Fields ran off, but left behind incriminating evidence — a yellow jacket emblazoned with the cartoon face of Sylvester the Cat, cops said.
Fields remained on the lam for five days, until police received a tip on the NYPD hotline that led to his arrest.
Afterward, the victim identified Fields in a lineup. Sources said he still bore two prong marks from an iPod charger she had jabbed into his neck while trying to fight him off.
Despite her apparent poise today, the victim said she has never gotten over the ordeal.
"I have lost everything — pride, dignity and self-esteem," she told Fields as she read a prepared statement. "You have damaged my life. You have left memories that even if I wanted to forget, I couldn’t."
Fields also addressed the court.
Quoting Scripture, he maintained his innocence.
Justice Stephen J. Rooney was unmoved.
He sentenced the defendant to consecutive 25-years-to-life prison terms.
"This sentence will almost certainly mean that Thomas Fields has claimed his last victim and will die in prison," District Attorney Daniel Donovan said in a statement. "This man is a serial sexual predator who preys on defenseless women."
Assistant District Attorneys Karen Varriale and Alexander Shapiro tried the case.
Prosecutors said Fields was convicted in 2001 of two prior rapes committed when he was 15 years old. Although charged as an adult in those cases, Fields legally had to be sentenced as a juvenile offender because of his age, prosecutors said. He received the maximum of three and one-third to 10 years in prison before being released on parole in November 2007, a year before the latest crime.
Those convictions allowed Fields to be charged as a sexual predator in the latest case.
Fields’ lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment