A Hempstead man previously accused of raping three sex workers at knifepoint has been indicted on new charges of trying to rape a fourth woman who got away last year.
Ramone Smith pleaded not guilty Tuesday to attempted first-degree rape, attempted sexual abuse, robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and petit larceny.
Prosecutors said the 23-year-old man tried to rape a 22-year-old New Hampshire woman at the Red Roof Inn in Westbury after he had answered the woman’s Internet ad on July 18, 2013. He also allegedly stole her lingerie before she fled.
“These women were victimized twice—by both the commercial sex trade and the brutal violence of their attacker,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said, adding that he “inflicted even more pain and degradation on women who were already in need of help and protection.”
Smith previously pleaded not guilty to predatory sexual assault, criminal sex act, sexual abuse, first-degree rape, criminal possession of a weapon and coercion for three other alleged sex attacks on women in June 2013 and August 2013.
Like the latest case, the other three victims advertised in the “adult entertainment services” section on Backpage.com. Smith lured each of them to the roof his apartment building on Washington Street in Hempstead, where the attacks occurred, prosecutors said.
Nassau County police Narcotics/Vice Squad and Special Victims Squad detectives arrested Smith on Sept. 3 and rearrested him on Nov. 15.
Judge Angelo Delligatti ordered Smith continue to be held without bail. Smith faces up to 50-years-to-life in prison, if convicted of the top charges. He is due back in court June 27.
