By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Hugues-Denver Akassy, the man accused of raping a tourist in Riverside Park, was charged Wednesday with four more attacks on women.
The other victims include a woman he allegedly forced into oral sex and three more who say he stalked them, prosecutors said. Those incidents took place between late 2007 and early 2010 on the Upper West Side and Upper East Side.
Akassy, 42, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 24 criminal counts, including rape, sex assault and stalking. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
A judge denied Akassy bail because he did not have a passport and could not prove where he lived.
Akassy was initially arrested for the alleged July 27 rape of a Russian woman he approached at the J. Crew store in the Time Warner Center, posing as a TV reporter.
In statements to police, Akassy detailed his wine-and-cheese date with the woman in Riverside Park. He said she talked about her marital problems and mentioned that she'd been traveling with her son, who was back at their hotel.
"She became very emotional. Crying and crying," Akassy told police, according to court papers.
After his arrest made the news, prosecutors said they received more than 40 phone tips alleging other attacks. Those tips led prosecutors to the four new cases.
The oral sex incident allegedly happened in November 2007 on East 62nd Street. The alleged stalkings happened in March 2009, August 2009 and January 2010 at locations on West 76th Street, West 80th Street and 25 Central Park West.
Prosecutors define stalking as putting someone in fear of their safety.
Akassy's lawyer, Howard Simmons, said he doubted those claims.
"It seems unbelievable to me that 40 women called," Simmons said. "Where are those 40 women?"
He also said that the four latest victims were acquaintances of Akassy's, and any sexual contact with them were consensual.
Akassy has also been charged with criminal trespass for frequenting an New York Sports Club and separately for lurking outside a woman's apartment, both instances on the Upper West Side.
He is scheduled to appear in court again on Oct. 20. He was placed in protective custody at Rikers Island after another inmate attacked him, Simmons told reporters outside the courtroom.
