Jose Angel Gomez, 42, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for three separate sexual assaults committed in 2018. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Gomez entered a guilty plea on January 23 to charges including first-degree sexual abuse while armed, first-degree sexual abuse, attempted first-degree sexual abuse, and assault with a dangerous weapon. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman also mandated that Gomez undergo supervised release and register as a sex offender for life.
The incidents occurred between July and October 2018. On July 15, Gomez attacked a 22-year-old woman in her home after she returned from an evening out. Armed with a knife, he assaulted her but she managed to escape and call the police.
On September 7, Gomez followed another victim from the Fort Totten Metro station into a wooded area where he assaulted her at knifepoint. The victim was able to alert authorities after convincing Gomez that someone would come looking for her if she did not respond to phone calls.
The third attack took place on October 21 when Gomez approached a woman waiting for an Uber. After initially engaging her in conversation, he attacked her when she tried to leave, dragging her into an alley where he sexually assaulted her before fleeing.
The resolution of these cases involved DNA evidence among other investigative methods. Gomez was apprehended in Louisville, Kentucky on June 7, 2023, and brought back to Washington D.C., where he has remained incarcerated.
U.S. Attorney Pirro and Chief Smith praised the efforts of those involved in solving the case, including the Metropolitan Police Department's Sexual Assault Unit and Cold Case Unit as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marco Crocetti, Sharon Donovan, and Amy Zubrensky who prosecuted the case.
This case is part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Cold Case Sexual Assault Initiative which aims to resolve previously unsolved cases of sexual assault through collaboration with various law enforcement agencies.