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Brooklyn man indicted, accused of sexually assaulting 'helpless man' on subway
By
Catalina Gonella
Published May 14, 2025
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Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
By
Catalina Gonella
Published May 14, 2025
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A grand jury has indicted a Brooklyn man accused of robbing and sexually assaulting a motionless man — later determined to have died that night — on a subway train last month.
Felix Rojas, 44, faces charges of attempted rape, sexual misconduct and attempted grand larceny in connection with the incident. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office alleges Rojas assaulted a subway rider who was unconscious on a southbound R train near the Whitehall Street-South Ferry station shortly after midnight on April 9. Rojas was arrested on April 27.
“Felix Rojas allegedly sexually assaulted a completely physically helpless man on the subway. This conduct is egregious, and we will prosecute this case to the fullest extent,” Bragg said in a statement. “While transit crime is down, I want New Yorkers to know that we are continuing to work with our law enforcement partners to make our bustling subway system safe.”
Prosecutors say Jorge Gonzalez boarded a Manhattan-bound R train shortly before 8 p.m. on April 8, and rode it for several hours before losing consciousness at around 10:45 p.m. Rojas got on the train minutes later, searched Gonzalez and touched his body for around 25 minutes, prosecutors said. Then, according to prosecutors, Rojas repeatedly sexually assaulted Gonzalez — only stopping when other passengers entered the train car — before leaving the train.
An MTA worker later found Gonzalez at the Whitehall Street-South Ferry station and called EMS, who pronounced him dead at the scene.
A spokesperson for Bragg's office said the investigation into whether Gonzalez was dead at the time of the alleged sexual assault is still ongoing. Engaging in sexual conduct with a dead body is considered sexual misconduct and is a Class A misdemeanor in New York, according to the state penal code, while attempted rape is a felony.
Rojas’ defense attorney did not answer the phone on Wednesday.
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transportation
brooklyn
Catalina Gonella
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