An ex-con who raped and murdered a 10-year-old girl from Queens is back in jail after sexually assaulting several elderly women while on parole.
Charles Rowe, 56, was able to take advantage of Kathy Hochul’s ‘Less is More’ act, which makes it easier to stay out of jail, even after being charged with a felony auto theft charge in December, according to New York Post.
The repeat offender was allowed to remain on the streets and is now charged with another rape and sexual assault.
Rowe was originally paroled for life from the Sullivan County Correctional Facility on January 19, 2022, after spending nearly 35 years locked up.
Although he is under close supervision for state parole, Rowe was arrested for felony grand larceny for allegedly stealing a van from a U-Haul warehouse in Jamaica on Dec. 9, less than a year later. late.
Rowe was originally paroled for life from the Sullivan County Correctional Facility on January 19, 2022, after spending nearly 35 years locked up
The convicted murderer has remained free despite missing not one but two court appearances – during which he allegedly committed a string of violent crimes in Queens, assaulting one woman and raping another, before finally being locked up earlier this month, according to the Post.
In both cases, he allegedly threatened to kill his victims, according to court records.
Rowe allegedly raped the 69-year-old victim on March 13, outside the same U-Haul storage facility he was accused of stealing a van from in December 2022.
“If you don’t do what I want, I’m going to kill you,” Rowe allegedly told the woman, before raping her and fleeing the scene.
About a month later, on April 25, Rowe returned to the facility and allegedly assaulted a 61-year-old woman after she caught him going through her belongings.
“Let’s not turn this into murder,” he told her, before punching her in the neck and chest and punching her in the face.
Rowe was eventually arrested on May 13 and faces multiple charges including first degree rape, first degree sexual abuse, predatory sexual assault, first and second degree robbery, possession of weapons, burglary and petty theft.
He is scheduled to appear in court on June 28 and is being held at Riker’s Island on $250,000 cash bond or $750,000 bail, the district attorney’s office said Monday, according to the New York Post.
Rowe’s attorney denied the charge that Rowe was involved in a car theft, but was simply hanging out with a girl in the stolen U-Haul van, trying to get comfortable.
His lawyer claimed the suspect had complied with the requirements of his parole and asked Queens Criminal Court Judge Stephanie Zaro to release him without bond, insisting his client should not be punished for having a past”.
‘Sir, I believe it would be a total miscarriage of justice to place my client in jail where he cannot post any bail on a non-violent D [felony] offense where my client would be in a van,’ Legal Aid attorney Paul Montgomery told Zaro, according to the transcript.
The judge referenced Rowe’s criminal record and the fact that he was repeatedly referred for psychiatric help while incarcerated, but agreed to release him on watch.
“If the charges were more violent in any way, I obviously wouldn’t do that. But I’ll do a supervised release at [parole’s] discretion,” Zaro said, according to the Post.
The judge released Rowe without bail, pending a preliminary hearing in his parole revocation case. Rowe did not appear for a hearing on January 12 and 31, a DOCCS spokesperson told the New York Post. The hearing was again postponed to March 17.
While the authorities had many opportunities to put the criminal behind bars, they released him on several occasions.
Rowe is “the poster child for parole violation,” a law enforcement source told the Post.
“He convicted one of the most heinous crimes I’ve seen in 40 years and stole a car less than a year after his release,” the source said.
Rowe was originally sentenced to 20 years to life for brutally raping and killing a 10-year-old girl in her bedroom in 1987.
Rowe was a guest staying at his family’s home when he was left alone with the girl, then raped and stabbed her to death.
The girl was left naked and dead on her bloodied bedroom floor. She was found by her family on Christmas morning, according to a New York Times article at the time.
The “Less is More” law was signed into law by Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul in 2021. It makes it harder to send felons back to prison for violating their parole.
“Thanks to the governor’s ‘less is more’, it’s nearly impossible to rape someone,” a law enforcement source told the Post.
“The lowering of standards is responsible for one woman fighting this monster and another woman being raped in two horrific crimes where both women faced death threats.
Rowe remains behind bars on Rikers Island awaiting a return court appearance on June 28.
On September 17, 2021, Governor Hochul signed into law the Community Supervision Revocation Reform Act (the Less is More Act)
“Before less is more, he would have been held in jail where he couldn’t prey on innocent people,” the law enforcement source said.
Prior to “Less is More”, a parolee re-arrested on a criminal charge could be held for up to 90 days between their preliminary and final dismissal hearings, or as long as probable cause or a violation had occurred. produced was found.
