Al Sharpton’s friend–an as-yet unnamed woman–was allegedly raped in the hours following a celebration for Sharpton’s 60th birthday. Another of Sharpton’s friends–Attorney Sanford Rubenstein–is presently under investigation by the New York Police Department with regard to the rape.
The New York Post reports that Rubestein allegedly attacked the woman in his East Side penthouse after both of them attended Al Sharpton’s birthday party.
A source from the NYPD tells the publication that the woman–the alleged victim–is a Manhattan executive in her forties. She reportedly resides in Brooklyn.
Al Sharpton’s birthday party included distinguished guests like New York’s Governor Cuomo, as well as celebrities like Spike Lee and Aretha Franklin. The alleged victim is said to have attended the party with another woman. At some point after the party for the acclaimed civil rights leader, both women reportedly accompanied Sanford Rubenstein to his home, where they had drinks. The second woman left at some point during the evening.
Attorney Sanford Rubenstein is being investigated for raping one of Rev. Al Sharpton's friends http://t.co/BQUsC9kTtz pic.twitter.com/JmOnyMU1yy
— New York Post (@nypost) October 5, 2014
“The next thing she knows, it’s Thursday morning, and she wakes up naked in his bed,” a NYPD source told the New York Post of the alleged victim. The source went on to explain that the
alleged victim was bleeding from the sexual contact during the incident. When the bleeding continued into Friday she sought medical attention at Methodist Hospital. Hospital officials determined she had been sexually assaulted. They were the ones who called authorities. The woman has little to no recollection about what happened at Rubenstein’s home.
Al Sharpton and Sanford Rubenstein have known one another for years. Rubenstein hosted a party for Sharpton back in 2001 following his hunger strike in prison.
“I know him, I know her,” Al Sharpton said Saturday night regarding this investigation that now has him in the middle between two friends.
“But how can I know what happened at somebody’s residence after my party?” he asked.
Sanford Rubenstein has yet to be charged with anything regarding this case.
This is no doubt extremely perplexing to Al Sharpton, who not only wouldn’t want to think of a friend being sexually assaulted, but certainly wouldn’t want to imagine another of his friends having been the one to commit such a heinous act.
It will be interesting to learn what the New York Police Department determines in the coming hours and days with regard to their investigation.