This sketch of the attacker was circulated by police immediately following the attack last Friday.
A man who had been on parole for the 1990 killing of a Queens’ woman was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the attempted rape and stun gun attack of a 23-year-old female jogger in Forest Park.
Richard Kassebaum, 42, of 84-09 155 Avenue in Howard Beach was arrested and charged with attempted predatory sexual assault, attempted rape and sex abuse.
According to police, the victim, a 23-year-old white female, was jogging inside Forest Park on Friday, March 29th around 7:25pm when Kassebaum approached her from behind and threw her down on the ground. Police said he then tasered the woman with a stun gun and proceeded to sexually assault her.
Officials said some park goers came upon the attack and scared Kassebaum off.
Police said the woman was taken to an area hospital and treated for injuries sustained to her neck.
Kassebaum, a former student at Francis Lewis High School, was convicted in the 1990 killing of his aunt and was sentenced to 8 to 24 years in prison. He was released in 2009 and has been on parole since.
A New York Times story from 1990 reported that detectives at the time were investigating the killing as a sexual assault since the woman’s clothes were reportedly “cut off her body.”
By Alan Krawitz
