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Flushing resident sentenced to 20 yrs. in prison for rape

Flushing resident sentenced to 20 yrs. in prison for rape
Photo by Joe Anuta
By Joe Anuta

A Flushing man was sentenced this month to 20 years behind bars after posing as a Good Samaritan and then raping a 19-year-old woman in 2009, the Queens district attorney said last week.

John Dixon, 41, was convicted of rape, assault and sexual abuse last April after he offered a teenage girl a ride in his car and then attacked her after she got inside, according to DA Richard Brown.

“The defendant sexually assaulted and raped this young woman who was on her way to work, leaving her emotionally and physically battered,” Brown said in a statement. “He is a violent predator and the sentence imposed today is more than warranted and protects the women of Queens County from such a vicious individual.”

Queens Supreme Court Judge James Griffin handed down the two-decade sentence Jan. 20 for the 2009 attack.

On Nov. 28 at about 5:30 a.m., Dixon was driving his red SUV and approached the young woman at a bus stop and offered her a ride.

The woman, who was on her way to work, initially refused Dixon’s offers.

But after she acquiesced and got into his car, Dixon drove a short distance to the corner of Parsons Boulevard and Jewel Avenue and began hitting, choking and sexually assaulting her, the DA said.

After raping her, Dixon let her out of the car and drove off, but not before the woman wrote down his license plate number and immediately alerted police.

In 2009, there were 12 rapes in the 109th Precinct, according to NYPD statistics.

A year later, that number had risen to 17, according to the NYPD.

Although official statistics for 2011 were not available by press time Tuesday, unofficial reports indicated 19 rapes, an 11.7 percent increase from 2010.

At a recent meeting of the 109th Precinct Community Council, the commanding officer said the majority of rape victims know their attacker.

And many of those are domestic violence disputes that are hard for the department to prevent, Deputy Inspector Brian Maguire said.

Citywide, Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently touted a lower overall crime rate for the 10th year in a row, although the number of rapes had increased from 2010-11.

Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly attributed the increase to a higher incidence of reporting these crimes.

Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.