Red Line Rapist Gets 2 Life Terms For 2016 Assault

SILVER SPRING, MD — A D.C. man found guilty of raping a woman at knife-point on a Red Line Metro train in 2016 was sentenced in Montgomery County Circuit Court to two life terms Friday.

John Prentice Hicks, 41, was found guilty of first degree rape, first-degree sex offense and second-degree assault for the April 12, 2016 incident.

Prosecutors said the rape occurred on April 12, 2016 on a northbound Red Line train.

"A young woman who was a nurse who helps to heal people, was herself hurt by this heartless criminal act," the Montgomery County State’s Attorneys Office said. "This act in broad daylight, just after 10 in the morning, on a weekday, on the Metro."

The victim and Hicks were alone in the train car at about 10 a.m. when he reportedly asked the woman if she had a boyfriend.

Hicks then showed a knife, dragged the woman to the back of the train car and raped her, prosecutors said.

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Hicks forced the woman to perform oral sex as the train moved through the Forest Glen and Wheaton stations, prosecutors said.

“Tax-paying, hardworking people should not have to go on public transportation not knowing if they will be the victim of an unimaginable event or crime,” Judge Cheryl McCally said, according to Bethesda Beat.

Photo via Metro Transit Police