Three New York City postal workers allegedly kidnapped and attempted to rape their co-worker in the back of a truck after a party in 2023, the Manhattan District Attorney said Wednesday, March 26.
Daniel Jean, 38, Kirt Acala, 38, and Edward Chou, 40, have all been charged in New York State Supreme Court with Kidnapping in the Second Degree and Kidnapping in the Second Degree as a Sexually Motivated Felony, a press release from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. states.
Jean additionally is charged with Attempted Rape in the First Degree, Attempted Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, and Forcible Touching.
“As alleged in this indictment, these three postal workers dragged their incapacitated colleague out of a post office and into a mail truck, where one attempted to rape her,” Bragg said about the alleged June 2023 incident.
“We take investigations and prosecutions of sexual violence extremely seriously and have the survivor-centered services and resources to help those who have been sexually assaulted. Please call us at 212-335-9373,” his statement continued.
According to a joint investigation between the Manhattan D.A.’s Office, the New York City Police Department and the USPS Inspector General’s Office, the unidentified co-worker attended an after-work birthday celebration for a friend at the East 11th and 4th Avenue post office where she worked with the defendants in the late afternoon of June 8, 2023.
Later in the evening, she allegedly began to feel “strange,” and “could not control her body, and eventually lost consciousness.”
It is then that while still in the post office, Jean is alleged to have “slapped and squeezed the victim’s buttocks while she was unable to stand or fully hold her head up.”
“The defendants then dragged her out of the post office and into the back of the truck,” the press release claims. Inside the truck is where Jean allegedly attempted to rape the unidentified co-worker.
After responding to a 911 call, New York Police Department officers found Alcala and Chou “sitting in the front seats of the truck, where they initially refused to open the back.”
It is after hearing “banging sounds and calls for help from inside” that Jean allegedly stepped out of the back of the truck with his pants unzipped.
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The unidentified female co-worker was later found in the back of the truck with her pants undone. PEOPLE reached out to USPS for comment but did not immediately hear back.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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