Elevator Rapist Gets 16 Years to Life

Ramon Rotestan pled guilty to raping a woman inside a Pelham Parkway building back in 2022, prosecutors said.

Bronx Voice

August 23, 2023

BRONX - A Bronx man has been sentenced to an indeterminate sentence of 16 years to life in prison for raping a woman in an elevator inside a Pelham Parkway building, prosecutors said.

 

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said, “The defendant brutally attacked the victim, who was coming home after work to her children. No woman should have to fear walking into their own building. The defendant’s actions have deeply affected her; her sense of safety and peace have been taken. My Crime Victims Assistance Bureau is providing resources to the victim and has been supporting her since the horrific attack.”

District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Ramon Rotestan, 47, was sentenced on August 22, 2023 to an indeterminate sentence of 16 years to life in prison by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Laurence Busching. The defendant pleaded guilty to Attempted Rape in the first degree and Attempted Robbery in the first degree on July 25, 2023.

According to the investigation, on May 9, 2022, the defendant followed the victim, whom he did not know, into her apartment building, then into the elevator. Rotestan demanded the victim hand over all her money at knifepoint and took $112 from her. He then patted her down and raped her in the elevator. 

A neighbor made noise in the hallway outside the elevator and the defendant ran away. The incident was captured on surveillance video. The defendant, who had been released from prison and had been on parole for 39 days prior to the attack, was arrested on May 12, 2022.