Perv arrested more than 50 times now busted for attempted rape in NYC subway station
A half-naked sex fiend who has 51 past arrests allegedly tried to rape a 21-year-old woman inside a Manhattan subway station Wednesday night, police and sources said.
Homeless career criminal Lamel Batten, 44, allegedly pounced on the unsuspecting woman as she got off a platform bench at the 116th Street – Columbia University subway station around 11:45 p.m.
Batten — naked with his pants down — allegedly threw the victim against a wall in the No. 1 train station before he violently snatched her shirt down and shoved his face between her breasts, sources said.
The perv then allegedly tried to take off her pants, but the victim managed to break away and ran to the mezzanine level of the station, where she told cops about the disgusting attack, according to sources.
Police collared Batten at the scene and charged him with attempted rape.
Only weeks earlier, the accused perv was busted for public lewdness on the Upper West Side.
The creep was caught masturbating on the northeast corner of Broadway and West 96 Street on Sept. 4 around 8:30 p.m., police said.
His extensive criminal history includes 51 arrests for public lewdness, resisting arrest and narcotics possession, sources said.
State prison records show he served time for 14 months at Marcy Correctional Facility, getting sprung in 2011.
In 2017, he was back in prison for criminal possession of a controlled substance and received parole less than a year later.
Sources also described Batten as a member of the violent street gang Nine Trey.
He was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday night.