DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn man was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison Friday for a 1998 Park Slope cold-case rape after DNA connected him the crime, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced.
Johnny Jacob, 45, raped a 19-year-old woman on a subway platform at Fourth Avenue and 9th Street while she was going to her first day of work on March 2, 1998. The woman ran to her job after and was taken to the hospital where a rape kit was administered.
Jacob was then convicted for federal money laundering in 2007 and his DNA was entered into a state database.
“What began as an exciting day headed to a new job turned into an absolute nightmare for this young woman who crossed paths with this violent predator,” acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.
“Thankfully, the DNA recovered that day was used to hold the defendant accountable for this horrific act and bring justice to his victim, who bravely testified against him at trial.”
He was finally arrested for the crime on Oct. 4, 2013 after the DNA test connected him to semen collected from the rape kit.
His lawyer, Michael Soshnick, said his client "maintains his innocence."
Jacob says that he'd had a consensual relationship with the woman which she had hidden from her then-boyfriend, which is why his DNA was found in the rape kid, the attorney said.
Soshnick added that there was also "unidentified DNA" in the case and that there was never any physical evidence recovered from the subway platform where the victim said the attack occurred.
"It was a very sad day for my client and his family, friends and supporters, all of whom believe in his innocence," Soshnick said of Friday's sentencing.
