Queens Man Sentenced After Sexually Abusing Intern In Jamaica: DA

QUEENS — A man from Richmond Hill was sentenced to prison after sexually abusing a college intern who was asking for petition signatures in Jamaica, the Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said Tuesday.

Basam Syed, 43, was sentenced to three years in prison after rubbing his genitals on a woman who was seeking signatures for a petition during the summer of 2022 at the intersection of Parsons Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue, prosecutors said.

Syed was previously convicted of sexual abuse in 2015 for forcible touching, Katz said.

The college intern received a signature from Syed before he sexually abused her on the sidewalk in Jamaica and fled, the district attorney said.

The woman used the information Syed wrote on the petition to look him up on the internet, leading to his arrest, prosecutors said.