Fake TV Journalist Convicted in NYC Park Rape

Hugues-Denver Akassy, 43, has also been convicted of harassing 3 others

Monday, Nov 7, 2011 | Updated 4:41 PM EDT

Fake TV Journalist Convicted in NYC Park Rape

An Ivory Coast native accused of pretending to be a French-language TV journalist has been convicted of raping one woman and harassing three others in New York. He has been acquitted of sexually attacking a fifth woman.

Jurors delivered their verdict Monday in Hugues-Denver Akassy's trial.

Prosecutors say the 43-year-old Akassy charmed the women with a debonair, phony persona, then became a sexually aggressive stalker. They say he was homeless but held himself out as an accomplished journalist on a website rife with plagiarized praise.

Akassy said the sexual encounters were consensual and the other accusations resulted from misunderstandings. He said he didn't write the now-gone website.