FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 14, 2026
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for
Sexually Assaulting Woman He Followed from Bar
Off-Duty Maryland Police Officer Intervened to Stop Attack
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Canarsie man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison and 12 years of post-release supervision for following a woman from a Kensington bar, carrying her into an alley and sexually assaulting her before an off-duty police officer intervened.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Today’s sentence holds the defendant accountable for his horrific crime, demonstrates our commitment to the protection of vulnerable victims in Brooklyn, and ensures a measure of justice for the innocent woman who was so violently assaulted.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Janeal Figueroa, 26, of Canarsie, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jay Weiner to 12 years in prison and 12 years of post-release supervision. The defendant was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree sexual abuse on May 20, 2026, following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on April 7, 2023, the 35-year-old woman went for drinks with friends before going to a bar located on Beverley Road in Kensington, Brooklyn, where she continued to drink by herself. The defendant observed and followed the victim when she left the bar alone at approximately 10:30 p.m.
As the victim walked home, the defendant put his arm around her and carried her into an alley near the corner of East 2nd Street and Church Avenue in Kensington as she screamed “no, no, no,” according to video surveillance. Once inside the alley, as the victim could be heard screaming, the defendant violently physically assaulted her, held her on the ground and subjected her to oral sexual conduct. When the victim attempted to crawl away, the defendant grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her back as she screamed for help.
An eyewitness flagged down an off-duty police officer visiting from Montgomery County, Maryland, who intervened and ordered the defendant out of the alley. As the defendant attempted to flee, he bragged to the off-duty officer and another witness about what he had just done to the victim. Members of the New York City Police Department arrested him nearby a short time later, and the off-duty officer identified him as the attacker.
The District Attorney thanked Paralegal Supervisor Jennifer Hernandez for her work on this case.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Stephen Van Doran and Jourdan Thompson, of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Bureau Chief.
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