Stressed railway employee who masturbated over sleeping pregnant passenger avoids jail

An employee of Metro-North Railroad who masturbated over a sleeping, pregnant passenger was given a suspended sentence on Monday. Manny Ramos, who claimed he masturbated on the woman to relieve stress that had built up while training to be an engineer, pleaded guilty before state Superior Court Judge Earl Richards to fourth-degree sexual assault, public indecency and second-degree breach of peace.

"My daily commute from New York City to New Haven was really tough, and especially, being six months pregnant back then, I really, really felt tired," the 33-year-old victim stated in a statement read to the judge by Assistant State's Attorney Tatiana Messina. "But after the incident, I never snoozed or slept again on the train, since I was afraid that it could happen again. Considering that this horrible event happened during working time, I really think his future employers should know about what happened ... This clearly was a sexual attack, and he should have a record of this."



Richards sentenced 35-year-old Ramos to a two-year suspended term and three years' probation. The judge also ordered Ramos to register as a sex offender. "I believe that is in the interest of public safety," the judge added. Ramos, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was accused of masturbating on the woman at around 8am on Jan. 28, 2014, as the train travelled from Grand Central Terminal to New Haven. The woman, a medical researcher at Yale University, told Metropolitan Transportation Authority police that she yelled, and a startled Ramos immediately began zipping up, claiming, "It wasn't me."

Police said the woman screamed for other train riders to stop Ramos as he fled the train at the Fairfield station, but no one would help her. Ramos was arrested by Fairfield police as he was walking from the station. Ramos later provided a written confession, according to police reports, stating he was under a lot of stress because of problems with his wife and because he was about to take a final test to become an engineer. "I was studying for the test when I started to have unwanted thoughts," he told MTA police. "I began to touch myself when I felt ill with a headache and stressed, the next thing I knew I was masturbating." Ramos declined to comment as he left the courthouse.