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

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.

โ€œOtoniel McKenzie committed utterly horrific crimes when he raped, filmed, and then stalked a young New Yorker for more than a week,โ€ said District Attorney Alvin Bragg. โ€œI 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.โ€

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 womanโ€™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 didnโ€™t meet him in person and continued to block his numbers. In his final message to the woman, McKenzie wrote โ€œI hope you always remember this ordeal because Iโ€™m sure itโ€™s going to shape your life forever.โ€

Later, on July 31, 2021, McKenzie followed a 29-year-old woman for approximately 20 minutes as she walked down Spring and Prince…

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