Man Gets Prison For Forcing Girlfriend To Walk Naked In Harlem

HARLEM, NY — A man who assaulted his girlfriend and then forced her to walk naked down a Harlem street will serve at least two years in state prison, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced Wednesday.

Jasson Melo, 26, was sentenced to two-and-a-half to seven years in prison, prosecutors said. Melo was convicted of felony coercion, third-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated harassment in December.

On a cold January day in 2016, Melo videotaped his former girlfriend as she walked down West 142nd Street wearing nothing but a towel, prosecutors said. Melo verbally abused the woman as she made her way down the street and eventually pulled the towel off her, prosecutors said

"In this egregious case of domestic violence, Jasson Melo repeatedly assaulted the mother of his two-month-old child, forced her to walk outside in January naked, filmed his act of utter humiliation, and then disseminated it in a manner that caused it to go viral," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement.

Hours before Melo forced his ex-girlfriend to walk the street naked, he returned home at 5 a.m. after a night out, prosecutors said. Melo and the woman argued for hours after he got home. During the argument Melo punched the woman in the face, body and genitals as their two-year-old daughter was in the apartment, prosecutors said.

The day after the assault, the woman called the police and was treated for pain, bruising, redness and swelling, prosecutors said.

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