William Powell - Repeat Sex Offender - Attempted to Rape Counselor

A hulking sex offender at the troubled Bronx Psychiatric Center tried to rape a counselor who barely managed to fight her way free, the Daily News has learned.

Patient 7, 40, barged into the victim's office Sunday, grabbed her by the neck with one hand and covered her mouth with his other hand to prevent her from screaming, according to court papers.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound suspect tried to yank down her pants and underwear while stifling her screams, according to court papers, but she fought back and managed to break away.

She quickly reported what happened, sources said, and Powell was arrested Monday.

He was charged with attempted rape and attempted sexual abuse and held on $100,000 bail.

His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment, and the state Office of Mental Health refused comment.

It was not immediately clear why Powell was at the center, where two patients previously alleged they were sexually abused since 2008. Powell served more than eight years for a 1996 attempted rape in Manhattan, and more than two years in prison for an attempted robbery conviction in Queens in the early 1990s.

The News reported in January that a teen patient at the center claimed he was raped by an unidentified hospital employee and another patient last summer.

State investigators uncovered what sources called "credible evidence" the 14-year-old boy was attacked, although no criminal charges were filed. At the same center in February, a 22-year-old patient claimed he was molested by a worker who was a registered sex offender in Florida.

Employee John Washington said on his application that he was an ex-con but didn't reveal he had committed a sex crime; the hospital never checked.

Washington worked there for nearly three years until he was accused of sexually abusing the victim in March 2008, according to a lawsuit filed by the victim.

No criminal charges were filed because the Bronx district attorney's office said it " was not a prosecutable case."

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

"On average most sex offenders are never caught again for a new sex offense, after five years, between 10 and 15 percent of sex offenders are detected, often convicted, of committing a new sex offense. If you follow them for ten years the rates go up somewhat, if you follow them as long as we’ve been able to follow them, which is about 20 years, the rates go up to somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of the total sample will eventually be caught for a new sex offense."

Dr. R. Karl Hansen