Police Say Parolee Threatened To Kill Woman Unless He Raped Her Or She Committed Incest With Her Own Son
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police say an ex-con raped a Queens woman, and neighbors and police are blaming the justice system for letting the accused attacker out.
According to police, the mother was forced to make a sickening choice Monday inside a Howard Beach apartment complex.
A man who broke into her home and allegedly said she had three options -- she could be raped by him, she could commit incest with her own son or he could kill her.
Neighbors still trying to process the horror.
"We're terrified. Every woman walking into this building is afraid to go in the elevator. They're afraid," one neighbor told CBS2's Christina Fan.
But families say what's even more horrifying was the alleged rapist's criminal history.
Police say 33-year-old Joshua Henderson was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a burglary but paroled early last July.
Since then, he has been arrested three times -- once in November of 2018, once in January of 2019, and once in May of 2019.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea it's outrageous he was allowed to roam free.
"We see over and over parole issues come up in New York City," he said. "When you see something coming up with this level of frequency, and we do, somebody has got to take a look and see what can be done to really, again, keep people safe."
Police arrested Henderson on Wednesday at his bail bondsman's office.
They say not only was Henderson caught on surveillance video, but the ankle bracelet he was wearing at the time put him at the scene of the attack.
"How do you allow a repeat offender like that out, and there's no repercussions?" neighbor Akeesha Edwards said.
"He may have victimized the woman and family where he broke into, but in reality, he has victimized this whole building," one neighbor said.
Henderson is now being charged with rape, burglary and robbery. Neighbors are relieved to learn he was remanded by a judge, for now.
State parole officials told CBS2 they were aware of Henderson's arrests and acted appropriately, but that "circumstances outside of the Department's control kept [Henderson] from returning to prison."
They say an administrative law judge kept them from revoking his parole.