Most molestation victims on NY subway are Asian

Deputy Inspector Michael A. Telfer, the commanding officer in charge of Transit District 20 Lines

One police officer has told a New York communities organization that many molestation victims on the New York City Subway are in fact Asian women, Sing Tao Daily reported.

Deputy Inspector Michael A. Telfer, the commanding officer in charge of Transit District 20 Lines

Due to a recent rise in assault cases, Deputy Inspector Michael A. Telfer, the commanding officer in charge of Transit District 20 Lines, was invited to give a speech on the operation of their "sexual assault case team" at a meeting of The Communities of Maspeth &Elmhurst Together, Inc. (COMET), a not-profit civic association in New York.

According to Telfer, 90 percent of molestation victims across their jurisdiction areas in recent years have been Asian women on New York's transit system. Nevertheless, and to their surprise, many women didn't want to report the assaults to the police.

"We will pay great attention to any individual case," he said, hoping that Asian victims can stand up to sex offenders.

Telfer explained that their sexual assault case team consists of one sergeant and six policemen.

He added that on the seventh subway line, most victims of cell phone theft are also Asian women.

Telfer noted how they had recently arrested six suspects during the U.S. Open Tennis Championships held in Queens, New York. One case in particular left quite an impression on him, he said, when a man first reached under a woman's dress, then smacked her on the face and took her handbag. When the man was arrested, police found he had 15 criminal records, 12 of which were related to sexual assault.

On a positive note then, Deputy Inspector Ronald D. Leyson -- in charge of the 110th Precinct -- brought some good news at the meeting. He stated that over the past month, both Maspeth and Elmhurst had witnessed a decline of 33 percent in criminal rates compared with the same period last year.