One day after a trip through what NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch calls the “revolving door of our criminal justice system,” a man charged with robbery was accused of groping and grabbing five women.
Jason Ayala, 31, was charged with two counts of robbery after allegedly attacking a 61-year-old man and a 51-year-old man on Jan. 12 and then stealing a cell phone from one of them, the New York Post reported on Saturday.
Although the second-degree robbery charges are among those where bail can be set, Judge Robert Rosenthal, appointed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, put Ayala on the street.
But as the Post told the tale, Ayala was free to do as he pleased, which led him to a public housing project where he began a 30-minute spree that started with him allegedly grabbing the buttocks of a 14-year-old girl in the lobby of the building.
After a walk to a different project, Ayala was accused of grabbing the buttocks of a 35-year-old woman.
Fifteen minutes after the first offense, he had returned to the first housing project. A 49-year-old woman was slapped on the buttocks, with Ayala being accused of the deed.
Five minutes later, Ayala was accused of touching the crotch of a 12-year-old girl and her 32-year-old mother as they rode an elevator.
The mom of the 14-year-old called police, who hauled off Ayala.
“The next day, the day after he was arraigned on the earlier robbery arrest, he victimized five additional females in Manhattan,” Tisch said.
Do you think the judge will have the courage to apologize to the women his decision violated?
“All of the arrests were for forcibly touching intimate parts and endangerment. He shouldn’t have been out on our streets the next day doing that,” she added.
Earlier this month, Tisch said in a statement that “we must stop the revolving door of our criminal justice system that has allowed too many violent and repeat criminals back onto our streets.”
Ayala was charged with five counts of forcible touching, one count of sexual abuse, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg requested Ayala face $200,000 cash bail or $600,000 bond.
Rosenthal put bail at $50,000 cash and $150,000 bond. Ayala was sent to Riker’s Island.
Ayala’s rap sheet shows he has six previous arrests, including for operating a vehicle while impaired on drugs, marijuana possession, drug sales, assault, criminal mischief, and a 2004 robbery.
Housing project resident Juana Catalan, 50, said she was upset that the suspect was ever let loose.
“How are they going to let a criminal go and get away with that?” she said. “That is just really insane to me.”
The most recent crime figures since the start of 2025 in New York City show a 50 percent increase in rapes relative to the first few weeks of 2024 and a 20.7 percent increase in other sex crimes.
“We need our judges to step up and do the right thing, especially in cases where bail is eligible and bail is called for, to keep dangerous criminals off the streets,” Tisch said recently, according to amNewYork.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.