An ex-convict on lifetime parole in connection with the 1987 rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in New York City now faces new charges for another sexual assault, despite being arrested last year.
Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that Charles Rowe, 56, was able to take advantage of New York’s “Less is More” Act — which allows parolees to avoid jail time — to commit additional crimes.
Despite facing a felony charge for allegedly stealing a car in December 2022, Rowe was released from custody. He is now accused of assaulting one woman and raping another, new court records show. Rowe was put behind bars earlier this month.
An ex-convict on lifetime parole in connection with the 1987 rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in New York City was out on the streets after another arrest last year and now faces new charges for another sexual assault. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Less is More” was signed into law by Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2021. It went into last year.
“Thanks to the governor’s ‘Less is More’ it is almost impossible to violate someone,” the source continued. “Lowering the standards is responsible for one woman fighting off this monster and another woman being raped in two horrific crimes where both women were threatened to be killed.”
Rowe was initially convicted of raping and killing a 10-year-old inside her bedroom in 1987. Her relatives found her body on Christmas morning at approximately 1 a.m., court documents show.
He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. But, after spending nearly 35 years behind bars, he was released with lifetime parole on January 19, 2022.
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Rowe was convicted of murdering a 10-year-old girl and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. He spent nearly 35 years behind bars before being released on January 19, 2022. (iStock)
The administrative law judge freed Rowe without bail, pending a preliminary hearing in his parole revocation case.
But Rowe failed to appear for his final hearing on January 12, and again after missing the rescheduled date of January 31, a DOCCS spokesperson told the New York Post. The hearing was rescheduled once more for March 17.
The judge in the case set bail at $250,000 in cash or a $750,000 bond, the DA’s office said Monday, according to the New York Post.
Rowe remains behind bars on Rikers Island pending a return court appearance on June 28.