Judge Gives Hempstead Man Maximum Sentence for Brutal Long Beach Rape

Alphonso Barnes, a Hempstead man who was convicted in August for a rape in Long Beach in 2009, was sentenced to maximum prison time for his crime on Wednesday.

Judge Tammy Robbins sentenced Barns to two 25 years-to-life sentences and one 12-years-to-life sentence, all to run consecutively, due to his status as a persistent violent felony offender, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.   

A jury convicted Barnes, 56, of dragging a woman onto the lawn of a Long Beach home and raping her for more than an hour. He was conviced of first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sexual act and first-degree sexual abuse.

“No amount of prison time can ever undo this vicious attack, but today’s sentence ensures that this dangerous predator will never walk the streets again,” District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement. “The bravery and strength of the victim helped put Mr. Barnes behind bars, and I hope that she can find some solace in this sentence.”

According to the D.A., at approximately 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2009, Long Beach police officers on patrol saw a woman with torn clothing running on East Broadway. The woman, who was on the phone with a 911 operator, told the officers that she had been walking on Magnolia Boulevard when she was grabbed from behind, forced into the yard of a West Olive Street home, and forcibly raped for approximately an hour and a half.

During the attack, Barnes strangled and threatened to kill the victim if she screamed, and tied her sweater around her face so she could not identify him.

DNA evidence collected at the scene led to Barnes, whose DNA sample was in the statewide database for previous convictions of criminally negligent homicide, attempted burglary, and robbery. Barnes, who was on lifetime parole and living in a shelter in Hempstead, was arrested by the Hempstead Police Department at the offices of the Nassau County Department of Social Services when he went to pick up a housing voucher.