CRIME
Gay Man Recalls Sexual Assault, Robbery in Queens
Cops use “Find my iPhone” app to fi nd alleged attacker, victim says
BY MATT TRACY
A gay man in Jackson Heights was
returning home early in the morning
on October 13 when he said a
stranger exposed himself, punched
him, stole his belongings, and dragged him on
the ground — all because he wouldn’t perform
oral sex on him. The victim, who identifi ed himself
by his fi rst name, Carlos, told Gay City News
he was on his way back from a friend’s home
at around 2:30 a.m. when an assailant walked
up and started whispering in his ear. Carlos
said the man followed him as he proceeded to
walk from 37th Avenue and 78th Street to 77th
Street — and the situation quickly escalated.
“When I looked back, he grabbed his penis
and said, ‘You want this?’ I didn’t pay attention
to it,” Carlos recalled. “When I turned around a
second time, he said, ‘Do you want to suck my
dick?’ I said, ‘No.’”
The assailant persisted, becoming more aggressive,
Carlos said. Carlos tried escaping, but
the man fi nally said, “I’ve got you locked now.”
Carlos said his refusal to acquiesce to the
sexual demands angered the assailant, who hit
him multiple times — including on his head —
and stole his cell phone and backpack. The man
CARLOS
Carlos, a gay man, shows one injury he suffered when he was
sexual assaulted and robbed in Jackson Heights.
demanded to know the cellphone password.
Dazed from the attack, Carlos noticed the
man was using his cell phone — and he took
the chance to escape. He took off and fl agged
down a car, desperately begging for help.
“They knew the guy was robbing me,” Carlos
recalled. “So when I got to the car, he kicked me
and I fell. When I fell, he kept hitting me on my
back and kicking me on the back. The guy in
the car rolled his window and said something
to him, but the man said I was trying to rob
him — like he was the victim.”
Carlos said he hit the man in self-defense,
but the attacker retaliated by dragging Carlos
for a short distance and demanding money. Finally,
a pedestrian passing by called 911.
“I ran to 76th Street and saw a police van,”
Carlos said. He entered the van and cops found
the alleged assailant nearby by utilizing the
Find My iPhone app. The NYPD confi rmed that
26-year-old Jelani Stewart of the Bronx was arrested
on charges of robbery and public lewdness
in connection with the incident.
Carlos said he told police about the sexual
assault, but was too wounded, shaken up, and
weakened from the attack to complete a statement
at the time. He said he still felt the effects
of the attack and planned to visit a doctor.
“I’m injured right now, but I have to come to
work,” he said. “Other than that, I would have
been in the hospital. I have back pain, stomach
pain… my nose, my eyes, my ears, my head. I
took some pain medication.”
Carlos said he was able to retrieve his phone,
but his backpack was nowhere to be found
when police made an arrest. “I really want to
see this person in jail,” he said.
SPORTS
Olympian Kerron Clement Announces He is Gay
Track star seizes opportunity of National Coming Out Day to share his truth
BY MATT TRACY
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kerron
Clement came out as gay on October
11, National Coming Out Day,
during an event celebrating a new
rainbow track at Los Angeles City College.
“I was hiding that part because of what society
thought,” the track star told Outsports.com .
“But it’s OK to be that way. Nothing is wrong
with loving someone of the same gender. Love
is love. I have an attraction to men. It’s who I
am and it’s what made me become the athlete
I am today.”
Clement, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago
and moved to the US in 1998, has enjoyed
tremendous success in his career dating back
more than a decade. He started making history
before he even entered the Olympic spotlight,
shattering the indoor world record for the
400-meter sprint with a time of 44.57 seconds.
Clement’s team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
nabbed the gold medal in the 4x400-meter
before he went on to earn another gold medal
— this time in the 400 meter hurdles — at the
2016 Rio Olympics. He received four gold medals
and a bronze at the World Championships.
Clement, who turns 34 on Halloween, explained
that he came out because he has grown
to worry less about what others think about his
sexual orientation.
“As I’ve gotten older I started caring less and
less, and now in my 30s I thought it’s time to
fi nally be free,” he said. “Plain and simple.”
While his professional athletic future is not
quite clear at this time, he feels that a burden
has been lifted from his shoulders — and that’s
particularly important because his sexual orientation
is a key part of his identity, explaining
that being an out gay professional track
and fi eld athlete “made me become who I am
today.”
FACEBOOK/ KERRON CLEMENT
Kerron Clement said his identity as an out gay track and fi eld
athlete has “made me become who I am today.”
October 24 - November 6 6 , 2019 | GayCityNews.com
/Outsports.com
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