Photo Courtesy of Google
Syed sexually abused the victim on the sidewalk near the intersection of Parsons Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue and then fled on foot.
By Michael V. Cusenza
A Richmond Hill man has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to forcibly rubbing his genitals on a woman last summer, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Tuesday.
Basam Syed, 43, pleaded guilty on Jan. 24 to persistent sexual abuse before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant, who imposed Tuesday’s determinate sentence of three years in prison to be followed by five years’ post-release supervision.
The defendant was previously convicted of sexual abuse in Queens in 2015 and for forcible touching in Manhattan, also in 2015.
Photo Courtesy of Department of Correction
Basam Syed
According to the charges, Syed approached a woman who was working as a college summer intern canvassing the Jamaica area seeking signatures for a petition. The defendant approached the victim and signed his name to the petition. After signing, Syed sexually abused the victim on the sidewalk near the intersection of Parsons Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue and then fled on foot.
Syed was arrested about a week later after the victim identified him utilizing an internet search with the information he entered on the petition.
“The sentence punishes the defendant’s lewdness and should teach him that his disgusting behavior has no place on our streets and simply will not be tolerated,” Katz said.
By 2015, Syed, a registered sex offender, had been arrested at least 28 times, according to a New York Daily News report. He has been collared twice for grinding on a woman on a train, burglary, and for tongue-kissing the 4-year-old son of his ex-girlfriend.
