Harlem man cleared in 2 rapes, then charged in third sex assault
By Shayna Jacobs / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A Harlem man who was cleared in two rapes on the same Harlem rooftop was quietly rearrested last year on shocking charges he pepper-sprayed and sodomized a 22-year-old in a stairwell, the Daily News has learned.
Taurean Williams is out on bail as he battles the third case, an allegation that he sexually assaulted a transgender woman in a building in East Harlem on April 1, 2012.
Police say he punched her in the face repeatedly, pepper-sprayed her, tried to silence her with a scarf and forced her to the ground to rape her as she pleaded for him to stop.
Williams, 27, is due in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday for a pretrial appearance. He claims the accuser was trying to get even because he owed her money for marijuana — and is seizing on his prior arrests.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/harlem-man-cleared-2-rapes-nabbed-sex-assault-article-1.1443772#ixzz2dqLwlmud
