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Man sentenced for raping and filming woman on Lower East Side, among other charges

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A man was sentenced in Manhattan for stalking and raping a woman, as well as sexually assaulting others, in the summer of 2021, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Otoniel McKenzie was found guilty of rape, stalking, unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image, and attempted coercion in March. He was sentenced to serve four years in state prison.

“Otoniel McKenzie committed utterly horrific crimes when he raped, filmed, and then stalked a young New Yorker for more than a week,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “I thank the survivor for her bravery in taking the stand, and the members of the jury for carefully considering the evidence before them. I am grateful to our partners in the NYPD for their work identifying and arresting McKenzie, and finally, for our prosecutors who fought for accountability. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, I assure you, we are here to help: call 212-335-9373.”

According to court documents, at 4 a.m. on July 18, 2021, McKenzie approached a 24-year-old woman who was walking into her Lower East Side apartment. After speaking with the woman, McKenzie put his hand over her mouth and ultimately made his way back to the woman’s apartment. Within minutes of arriving, McKenzie raped and choked the woman in her bedroom, which he filmed in a 16-minute cellphone video.

Between July 18-27, 2021, McKenzie texted the woman from six different phone numbers, sending the clip of the video in one instance, which he had manipulated to make the encounter appear consensual. McKenzie tried to use the clip as leverage, threatening to send it to her parents if she didn’t meet him in person and continued to block his numbers. In his final message to the woman, McKenzie wrote “I hope you always remember this ordeal because I’m sure it’s going to shape your life forever.”

Later, on July 31, 2021, McKenzie followed a 29-year-old woman for approximately 20 minutes as she walked down Spring and Prince Streets. As he followed her, McKenzie groped the woman three times, repeatedly hiding, coming up behind her or jumping out at her, groping her, and running off.

Then, on Aug. 1, 2021, McKenzie allegedly sexually assaulted two more women in Brooklyn by placing his hand over their mouths and groping them. He was arrested after he was identified by NYPD detectives in video surveillance footage and linked the incidents. This charge is being handled by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.

While he was awaiting trial in custody, McKenzie made dozens of phone calls asking his friend to access his electronic devices and further edit the secretly recorded video to make it appear less incriminating to his defense attorney and the D.A.’s Office. He also asked his friend to delete the video after he was finished editing it.

McKenzie was previously sentenced to five years in prison in August 2022 after being convicted of stalking and forcible touching in a separate incident where he repeatedly groped a stranger as she walked down Spring Street near 6th Avenue on July 31, 2021. The judge ruled that McKenzie will serve his sentences consecutively, totaling nine years in prison with 10 years post-release supervision.