Teen, 18, who broke into a disabled widow's home is found guilty of raping and sodomizing the 82-year-old woman as he threatened her with a knife

  • Asa Robert, now 20, has been convicted of rape and criminal sexual act, sexual abuse, assault, burglary, robbery, and two counts of criminal trespass
  • Robert, who carried out the attack when he was 18, could get up to 122 years in prison when he is sentenced in January   
  • The victim, who has been using a wheelchair since the attack, told jurors last month how Robert ambushed her after slipping inside her house in July 2015
  • Octogenarian testified how Robert put a knife to her neck, pushed her onto her bed and demanded money
  • After stealing a bag full of clothes, Robert ordered the woman back in the bedroom, where he proceeded to rape and sodomize her
  • She said the teen laid on top of her 'like a pile of bricks' and continued assaulting her despite her repeated pleas to stop and call 911  

By Snejana Farberov For Dailymail.com

Published: 17:20 EST, 12 December 2016 | Updated: 17:54 EST, 12 December 2016

Guilty: Asa Robert, now aged 20, has been convicted of rape, seual abuse and other charges after he broke into the Brooklyn home of an 82-year-old widow and raped her last year

A 20-year-old Brooklyn man has been found guilty of raping and assaulting an 82-year-old woman after sneaking into her Brighton Beach home last year.

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that Asa Robert was convicted Monday of first-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act, following his conviction last week of first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree assault, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary and two counts of second-degree criminal trespass.

‘This defendant committed a reprehensible and terrifying assault on a vulnerable elderly woman who had the courage to face her attacker in court,’ Gonzales said in a statement after the verdict. ‘This defendant has now been brought to justice and held accountable for his actions.’

Robert could get up to 122 years in prison when he is sentenced on January 10.

Last month, the victim, who is now 83 years old, came face-to-face with her attacker, recounting for the jury in harrowing detail how Robert broke into her home, put a knife to her neck and proceeded to sexually assault her.

Robert, who was 18 years old at the time, was arrested in July 2015 on a slew of charges stemming from the attack targeting the octogenarian.

The incident took place on the morning of July 13, 2015, when police said Robert slipped into the woman's home in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn while she was sweeping her front yard and laid in wait for her with a knife in his hands.

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Cuffed: Robert was arrested in Bedford-Stuyvesant in mid-July 2015, just a few days after the brutal rape and home invasion

During Robert's trial in late November, the 4-foot-5, 90-pound victim, who has been using a wheelchair since the day of the brutal attack, recounted for the jury how Robert pounced on her when she went to lay down, grabbed her by the neck, pushed her onto her bed and threatened her with the knife.

'He started to yell, "Gimme the money,"' she recalled, according to a report by the New York Daily News. 'I said, "I'm a poor old lady, my family handles all my money."'

The widow, who is not being named because she is believed to be the victim of a sexual assault, said Robert proceeded to ransack her home, shoving clothes into a bag. He also reportedly pilfered an umbrella. 

The victim even offered the teen her late husband’s Hawaiian shirt in the hope that he would leave without harming her, reported the New York Post.

As Robert was making his way toward the door, the widow told the court he suddenly turned around and ordered her back into the bedroom, where he proceeded to rape, sodomize and suffocate the octogenarian, despite her repeated pleas to stop and call 911.

‘This was the most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me,’ she told jurors of the attack. ‘He was on top of me like a pile of bricks. It felt like he was trying to crush me to death.'

Merciless: The octogenarian testified in court last month that Robert (pictured) sexually assaulted and sodomized her for a long time, despite her repeated pleas to stop and call 911 

The woman said Robert stayed on her for a long time and continued assaulting her 'no matter what I said.'

After he finally got off the woman, she said Robert brought her a bottle of water and her medical alert button.

When he left her home, the victim called her son-in-law for help and he summoned police to her home. However, it was not until a week later that she told her daughter about the rape.

Police used surveillance video to identify Asa Robert as a suspect, and he was picked up in Bedford Stuyvesant just a few days later. PIX11 reported that his past criminal record included at least eight arrests, including for robbery, gang assault and resisting arrest.

During the victim’s testimony, Robert sat sullenly at the defense table and was reportedly overheard telling his lawyer that the witness 'is just an old woman.'  

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