By Adam Kramer
A positive DNA match led to the indictment Tuesday of a Rosedale man accused of sexually attacking three women and endangering a young girl in his neighborhood late last year, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Rodolfo Beach, 31, of 249-11 147th Rd., was linked to a series of eight rapes in southeast Queens that occurred between December 1998 and November 1999. He was indicted on charges of rape, sodomy, robbery and attempted rape in the three Rosedale attacks and charged with endangering the welfare of a child in a fourth case, Brown said.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to more than 75 years in prison.
Beach was arrested in the early morning hours of Nov. 6 after being stabbed by a resident of the Rosedale house where he allegedly entered the bedroom of a 12-year-old girl and assaulted a 42-year-old woman who came to her defense. According to the DA's office, Beach did not attack the girl.
“This is the worst kind of crime – one that leaves women afraid in their own home and looking over their shoulders as they walk through their own neighborhood,” Brown said. “Hopefully, the filing of these charges will restore a sense of safety to the Rosedale community.”
Brown said the young girl awoke after hearing noise in her bedroom and found a man kneeling at her bed with his pants unbuttoned. The girl's mother awoke and pushed the man down. The mother's brother came to their aid after hearing his sister scream and stabbed the man before chasing him into the street, the DA said.
According to Brown, Beach was caught by police in the driveway of his home. He was arrested and held on $250,000 bail.
The DA said while in jail Beach's DNA was taken and found to match the DNA evidence left behind in the three Rosedale sexual assault cases.
The incidents started with an attempted rape in Rosedale on Dec. 22, 1998 and a second attack in Queens Village on Dec. 28. Rapes followed on Jan. 6 in Elmont, L.I., and Jan. 12 and March 21 in Laurelton.
After a six-month hiatus in the rape pattern, the rapist struck again on Sept. 4, Sept. 9 and Oct. 18 in Rosedale. Police have speculated that the break in the pattern might have occurred because the rapist was in jail for another crime.
According to the indictment, Beach is charged with the Dec. 2, 1998 attempted rape of a woman who escaped as he allegedly tried to push her into her home. He is also charged with the Sept. 9, rape of a woman he allegedly followed to her home after she left work and the Oct. 18, rape of a woman he is suspected of robbing.
Beach also faces a charge of endangering the welfare of a child. He was not indicted in the five other rapes.
The DA said Beach allegedly targeted women coming home from work, attacking them as they entered their homes.
