A Howard Beach man arrested in March for sexual abuse has been convicted of one count each of first and third-degree sexual abuse and one count of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation.
Richard Kassebaum, 42, was employed at a laundromat located at 85-42 Woodhaven Boulevard where, according to trial testimony, he followed a 40-year-old female after she left the laundromat at around 4:30 a.m. on March 31, 2013. The woman had exited the building after placing her clothes in the washing machine and headed home. She was grabbed from behind and choked. Her glasses were knocked from her face and Kassebaum grabbed her buttocks. The victim screamed and Kassebaum fled the scene.
The woman was able to identify her attacker and what he was wearing. A subsequent review of video surveillance from inside the laundromat and elsewhere showed Kassebaum inside the laundromat wearing a navy blue short-sleeved shirt and jeans and then standing in the parking lot outside the laundromat as the victim left. He was then observed walking behind the victim and followed her onto Woodhaven Boulevard. Footage taken shortly after the attack shows him running back onto 86 Avenue and re-entering the laundromat.
Sentencing before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Butcher is scheduled for August 15, 2013. Kassebaum, who has been held in jail in lieu of $50,000 bail since his arrest on April 1, 2013, faces up to seven years in prison.
By Samantha Geary
