Honk News (New York City, NY) – A convicted individual with a lengthy criminal history and prohibited from entering the subway system was taken into custody once more after allegedly attacking two women in the underground area on Friday, as reported by law enforcement officials.
Cecil McKenzie, 53, from Harlem, is accused of inappropriate behavior on a train, allegedly pressing his groin against a 22-year-old woman and touching another woman’s buttocks while traveling to the 14th Street-Union Square subway station in Manhattan around 9:30 a.m., according to police reports.
According to a post by the NYPD on X, McKenzie, a former inmate with a history of sex crimes, engaged in a struggle with officers who observed the incident but was ultimately apprehended.
“Your @NYPDTransit officers were on the same subway car and saw the incident unfold,” the post reads.
Earlier this morning, two women were standing in a subway car that was approaching the 14 Street-Union Square subway station.
A 53-year-old man stood next to them and began pressing his groin against one woman’s buttocks while placing his hand on the other woman’s buttocks.
Your… pic.twitter.com/dyUrDUcQzM— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) January 18, 2025
“They knew the man very well as he had been arrested over a dozen times previously including for persistent sexual abuse, forcible touching, robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon. He was also on parole and was a transit offender who’s not allowed to be in the subway.”
McKenzie, registered in the state’s Sex Offender Registry, faces multiple charges including persistent sexual abuse, forcible touching, resisting arrest, obstruction of government administration, sexual abuse, disorderly conduct, and harassment stemming from the incident on Friday.
The 5-foot-8, 170-pound individual is currently held at Rikers Island with a bail set at $100,000 or a bond of $300,000, according to official records.
After serving a sentence for ongoing sexual misconduct in 2017 at Fishkill Correctional Facility, he was granted parole and released on June 3.