What to Know
- Neighbor accused of raping an 88-year-old woman who used her Life Alert to call for help after she was attacked was indicted
- Selwyn Worrell, 24, of East New York was arraigned Monday on a 23-count indictment in which he is charged, among other charges, with rape
- He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count
The neighbor accused of raping an 88-year-old woman who used her Life Alert to call for help after she was attacked in her Brooklyn home was indicted on charges of rape, sexual abuse and burglary.
Selwyn Worrell, 24 and of of East New York, was arraigned Monday on a 23-count indictment in which he is charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree burglary as a sexually motivated felony, and related charges for the April incident, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced.
He was ordered held on $500,000 bail and to return to court on July 30.
Worrell faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count.
Attorney information for Worrell was not immediately known.
According to prosecutors, EMS responding to a Life Alert found the woman in the basement of her building in East New York around 1:30 p.m. April 24.
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Prosecutors say Worrell knocked on the woman’s door to access the back door of his home from her backyard. The victim allowed him to walk through her home, as she has done on previous occasions, and she sat down to watch television, prosecutors say, adding that he later re-entered the victim’s home through the back door.
The man then allegedly grabbed her by the neck and dragged her into the basement, tied her up with an electrical cord, gagged her with a pillowcase, punched her in the face and pusher her to the floor before raping her, prosecutors say. He then allegedly started rummaging through her belongings.
The victim had allegedly activated her life alert bracelet to summon help as Worrell was allegedly dragging her down the basement stairs. About half-an-hour after sending the alert, EMS arrived, as did the victim’s daughter, and found the victim half-naked on the floor of her basement, bound and gagged, prosecutors say. EMS subsequently called 911 to alert the police.
The victim’s daughter immediately went to Worrell’s home to tell his family about the assault, prosecutors say, adding that when his father confronted him, he allegedly fled and was captured by his father several blocks away and detained until police arrived.
Worrell was taken to an area hospital for a mental health evaluation following his arrest.
The woman suffered a contusion to her face and head, NBC 4 New York previously reported.
