Jury Finds Jamal Rogers Guilty of Sexual Assault

WOONSOCKET, RI— According to police, his 15-year-old victim was playing on the swing set in Cass Park when Jamal Rogers, 23, came along.

She asked him for the time. He said he didn't have a watch but did she have any marijuana.

After she said no and was leaving to go to a nearby school and find out the time of day, he grabbed her, pulled her into the woods behind the swings and sexually assaulted her.

Woonsocket police investigated. Today, Atty. Gen. Peter F. Kilmartin announced that a jury found Rogers, of Woonsocket, guilty of five counts of second degree sexual assault.

The jury returned the guilty after two days of deliberations preceded by a three-day trial before Superior Court Justice Daniel A. Procaccini, Kilmartin's office said.

The jury also found the defendant not guilty of one count of first degree sexual assault and one count of assault with intent to commit sexual assault.

After the assault, which happened on Feb. 2, 2012, the victim was able to escape.

"She ran to her grandparents’ home, and although they asked if she was okay, she did not tell them about the assault because she did not want to upset them," Kilmartin said, but the next day, she reported the crime to a school counselor.

The defendant has been held without bail since his arrest.

Woonsocket Police Detective Sergeant Matthew Ryan led the investigation and Special Assistant Attorney General Alison DeCosta prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.