DA VANCE: PREDICATE FELON SENTENCED TO 16 YEARS IN STATE PRISON FOR TWO SEPARATE SEXUAL ASSAULTS
DNA Profile From Stranger Rape Uploaded to State Databank and Matched it to Defendant’s Profile From a Previous Felony Conviction
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., recently announced the sentencing of JONQUEL JONES, 27, to 16 years in state prison and 25 years of post-release supervision for sexually assaulting of a stranger and a young girl in two separate incidents in 2013. On May 28, 2015, JONES pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to Rape and Sexual Abuse, both in the First Degree.
“Weeks after being released from prison, Jonquel Jones sexually assaulted two people – a lost tourist and a child,” said District Attorney Vance. “Because of the extreme strength and courage these individuals displayed in coming forward, this sexual predator will no longer be free to commit other crimes against women and children.
“In case after case, we see the power of DNA evidence to solve crimes and exonerate the innocent. That is why I championed the State’s All Crimes DNA legislation, and why my Office has committed $35 million to eliminate backlogs of untested rape kits nationwide. Once these kits are tested, they will generate DNA matches to unsolved crimes across the entire country. Today’s case demonstrates that people who rape commit other types of crime and sexual assaults, continuing the pattern of violence until they are apprehended.”
According to his guilty plea and documents filed in court, at approximately 11:00 p.m. on September 5, 2013, JONES approached a tourist on the L train in Manhattan. The 22-year-old woman had become separated from her friend, and had been asking other passengers for directions to Brooklyn, where she was staying at the friend’s apartment. JONES told the victim that he would help her hail a cab to Brooklyn if they got off the next stop together. Once outside, JONES led the young woman to an isolated area on East 10th Street near the FDR Drive. There, he threatened her with a knife and raped her. Following the attack, the victim returned to Brooklyn and told her friend, who took her to the hospital, where a rape kit was administered. A DNA profile developed from the kit was uploaded to the New York State DNA Databank, where it matched the defendant’s DNA profile from a previous felony conviction.
A month later, at approximately 7:30 p.m. on October 5, 2013, JONES invited a 12-year-old girl who lived in the same East Village building as he and his then-girlfriend to come over to their apartment. He forced her to undress and change into different clothes while he watched. Then JONES forcibly kissed her. The girl reported the incident to her mother, who contacted police.
Once JONES learned that the victim’s mother contacted authorities, he fled. NYPD officers tracked him to an abandoned building in Brooklyn, where he was apprehended on March 25, 2014.
Assistant District Attorney Sara Weiss handled the prosecution of the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg, Chief of the Child Abuse Unit; Executive Assistant Audrey Moore, Chief of the Special Victims Bureau; and Executive Assistant District Attorney John Irwin, Chief of the Trial Division. Special Victims Social Worker Sarah Strole assisted with the case.
District Attorney Vance thanked members of the NYPD’s Manhattan Special Victims Division, including Detective Elizabeth Harris of the Manhattan Child Abuse Squad and Detective Katia Jasmin of the Manhattan Special Victims Squad.
Defendant Information:
JONQUEL JONES, D.O.B. 1/7/1988
New York, NY
Convicted:
• Rape in the First Degree, a class B felony, one count
• Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, a class D felony, one count
Sentenced:
• 16 years in state prison
• 25 years of post-release supervision