A Montgomery County man, sentenced to two life sentences for rape Thursday, posed as a police officer and preyed on the fears of illegal immigrants, revealing what State’s Attorney John McCarthy called a growing trend among criminals.
John Robert Lay, 51, whose criminal history stretches back more than 30 years, is already serving time in a Virginia prison for sexually assaulting an illegal Hispanic woman in Fairfax County in 2001. He was convicted of that crime in 2006.
In both cases, prosecutors said, Lay played on the fear of deportation held by many illegal immigrants by flashing a fake police badge at his victims and demanding identification.
When the women said they had none, he put them in his car, brought them to secluded areas and forced them to perform sexual acts. The Montgomery County woman was placed in handcuffs before she was assaulted in September 2005.
“This is a pattern we’re seeing too often in our community. … On a regular basis criminals are targeting Hispanics, believing they can act with impunity,” McCarthy said, encouraging witnesses and crime victims, regardless of immigration status, to step forward.
During Thursday’s hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Marybeth Ayres said when Lay was brought in for questioning after his Fairfax victim finally stepped forward years after she was assaulted, he admitted to police that he often targeted Hispanic women because it was likely they were illegal and wouldn’t go to police. Lay said what he meant was that he would cruise for prostitutes, many of whom were Hispanic.
But in the end, Judge David Boynton wasn’t buying Lay’s excuses, nor the arguments by his lawyer, Brian Shefferman, who said that Lay’s time in the armed forces should serve as cause to reduce his sentence, among other factors.
“Preying on vulnerable victims; targeting Latino women is an aggravating factor, and so is impersonating police,” Boynton said. “You’re a lifelong criminal with offenses in every walk of life and in every location you’ve been in … this is to protect the community from you.”
