Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Rody Morales Cu was charged with rape and sexual abuse for allegedly raping a 50-year-old woman early last Friday morning in Jamaica.

District Attorney Katz said: “Rody Morales Cu is accused of accosting a stranger on a Jamaica street in the early morning hours of April 11 and then raping her. The brave survivor called a relative, who quickly came to the scene and scared the defendant away. I thank our partners at the NYPD for quickly apprehending the suspect and the survivor for coming forward.”

Morales Cu, 20, of 165^th Street in Jamaica, was arraigned today on a complaint charging him with rape in the first degree and sexual abuse in the first degree before Queens Criminal Court Judge Glenda Hernandez remanded the defendant and ordered him to return to court tomorrow

If convicted, the defendant faces up to 25 years in prison.

According to the complaint, on April 11, at approximately 3 a.m., Morales Cu was near the intersection of 162^nd Street and 89^th Avenue in Jamaica.

Morales Cu allegedly placed a sharp object against the side of a 50-year-old woman’s body and told her to be quiet. The victim accessed her cellphone and called a relative. The defendant allegedly grabbed the cellphone, pushed her to the ground and raped her. The victim’s relative arrived at the location during the assault. The relative screamed for help and the defendant fled on foot.

Following a police investigation, he was arrested Tuesday at his home on 165^th Street.

The investigation was conducted by Detective George Allen of the Queens Special Victims Squad.

Assistant District Attorney Sean Jaime of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau is prosecuting the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Eric C. Rosenbaum, Bureau Chief, Debra Lynn Pomodore and Brian Hughes, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney of Special Prosecutions Joyce Smith.