By Phil Corso
The Queens district attorney’s office deferred prosecution of a Howard Beach man in connection with an attempted rape in Forest Park and instead charged him with groping another woman three blocks from the park, a spokeswoman from the DA’s office said.
Richard Kassebaum, 42, was charged with sexual abuse, strangling and forcibly touching a woman in a March 31 incident near the Woodhaven Laundry Haven at 85-42 Woodhaven Blvd., according to the criminal complaint filed by the district attorney.
Kassebaum followed his victim outside of the laundromat before allegedly grabbing her from behind, choking her with his arm and grabbing her buttocks before fleeing back into Laundry Haven, the complaint said.
Police had sent out a statement April 2 saying Kassebaum was charged with predatory sexual assault, attempted rape and sex abuse in a March 29 attack on a woman jogging through Forest Park.
However, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office said Monday that charges against Kassebaum involving that attack had been deferred.
Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at pcorso@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
