Rapist Who Attacked East River Park Jogger Gets 40 Years In Prison

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The man who raped a woman who was jogging in the East River Park was sentenced to 40 years in state prison on Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Paul Niles, 30, will serve 40 years in state prison after he was found guilty of the 2015 rape, strangulation and robbery, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a statement.

Last month, Niles was found guilty of multiple charges by a grand jury. He attacked the 26-year-old woman in November 2015 as she was jogging in the East River Park near Cherry Street. He forced her to move to a different area of the park, where he assaulted her before stealing her phone and credit card, prosecutors said at trial.

Police said at the time that when Niles approached the woman, she took off running in the opposite direction. He grabbed her hair, put his arm around her throat and pulled her into the park’s amphitheater where he raped her, according to the NYPD. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Niles was located shortly after the rape when he used the woman's credit card at a Brooklyn bodega, police said.

“This was a brutal stranger assault and I commend the victim for her bravery in bringing her attacker to justice, as well as the prosecutors and members of law enforcement who worked tirelessly on this case,” district attorney Cy Vance said in a statement.

“According to a report on runner safety, more than 40 percent of women have experienced harassment while jogging. Female runners should be able to engage in this activity without fear of being threatened, sexually assaulted, or worse.”

In addition to his 40 year prison sentence, Niles was sentenced to 20 years of supervised release.

Image credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images News / Getty Images