{"id":159594,"date":"2025-08-19T23:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T23:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/159594\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T23:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T23:15:13","slug":"convicted-rapist-who-assaulted-tinder-date-after-soho-house-date-skates-with-just-probation-thanks-to-lenient-nyc-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/159594\/","title":{"rendered":"Convicted rapist who assaulted Tinder date after SoHo House date skates with just probation thanks to lenient NYC judge"},"content":{"rendered":"

A convicted rapist<\/a> \u2014 who assaulted a Tinder date at his West Village apartment \u2014 got off with a slap on the wrist Tuesday when a Manhattan judge sentenced him to just probation and therapy.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors had pushed for the maximum sentence of four years behind bars for William Hathaway, but Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Josh Hanshaft said he ultimately found the \u201cbetter alternative\u201d to prison was sending the sicko back on the streets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure if this sentence is what\u2019s the right answer or should you be sitting in a jail cell for a while to get a sense of what incarceration is about,\u201d the judge told Hathaway, 33, at his sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n

Convicted rapist William Hathaway, 33, was sentenced to 10 years of probation, sex therapy and ordered to register as a sex offender despite prosecutors seeking a four-year prison term. Steven Hirsch<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I do find the probationary sentence will at\u00a0least get you the help so you do not hurt another individual again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge sentenced Hathaway, now a Miami, Fla., resident, to 10 years of probation and ordered that he partake in a sex offender treatment program and register as a sex offender.<\/p>\n

Hathaway, who grew up in West Hartford, Ct., went to trial and was convicted by a jury on April 24 of rape in the third degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He met the victim, a 23-year-old woman he had connected with on the dating app, at SoHo House on February 15, 2020, and then took her to his apartment, where he raped her, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat night he took my control. He took away my voice, he took away my dignity,\u201d the victim, who has since moved out of state, told the court on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The woman, who is not being identified because she is a victim of sexual assault, said she\u2019s battled with alcohol abuse and suicidal thoughts since the rape.<\/p>\n

She said her life changed forever when she met Hathaway and \u201che decided to do whatever he wanted\u201d with her.<\/p>\n

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Josh Hanshaft said he felt that there were better alternatives than prison for Hathaway, who was convicted of rape in the third degree in April. Steven Hirsch<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took away a part of me that I can never have back,\u201d she said. \u201cFor what? To please himself. All he was thinking about was himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors have said Hathaway and the victim exchanged messages for a few days on Tinder before agreeing to meet for a date at the posh members-only club in the Meatpacking District.<\/p>\n

Hathaway, who was 27 at the time, then brought the woman back to his West Village<\/a> apartment where they began to have consensual sex.<\/p>\n

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The victim then told him to \u201cstop\u201d \u2014 at least five times \u2014 while pushing on his chest, but he ignored her, prosecutors said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe clearly expressed that she did not consent, repeating \u2018stop\u2019 at least five times, and pushing on his chest, while he raped her without a condom,\u201d the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s Office has said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ADA Ashley Durkin told the judge that Hathaway felt like he was \u201centitled to sex\u201d with the victim because he met her on Tinder, which has a reputation for being a \u201chook up\u201d app.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a reason the term \u201cdate rape\u201d exists in our lexicon,\u201d Durkin said. \u201cTo not sentence this defendant to a period of incarceration for his conduct would be adhering the outdated concept that there needs to be some form of violence or force to constitute rape.\u201d<\/p>\n

William Hathaway was convicted of rape in the third degree by a jury in April. Steven Hirsch<\/p>\n

Hathaway claimed that he was simply trying to have a \u201cfun date,\u201d while he apologized to the victim in court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The convicted rapist then bizarrely mentioned that he\u2019s now dating with more serious intentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince my arrest, I\u2019ve tried to respond to this experience in ways that reflect loyalty and responsibility. I now date with the intention of long term relationships,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to be a good boyfriend, a good husband, a good father one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hathaway was charged with a similar sex attack in the summer of 2020, but was acquitted during an October 2023 trial, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n

Neither the judge, nor jurors, would have been able to take the previous case into account as part of the sentencing or verdict, as it is now sealed.<\/p>\n

Hathway met the victim, a 23-year-old woman he had connected with on the dating app, at SoHo House on February 15, 2020, and then took her to his apartment, where he raped her, prosecutors said. Stephen Yang<\/p>\n

Hathaway\u2019s defense attorney, Aida Leisenring, claimed in court that the victim had withdrawn her consent \u201capproximately one minute\u201d before the rape ended, and asked the judge to not sentence his client to prison.<\/p>\n

Hanshaft explained that the sentence was intended to \u201cmostly make sure this never happens again\u201d \u2014 while hitting back at the prosecutor\u2019s suggestion that not locking up Hathaway would mean taking the case lightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t treat this as an outdated theory, that no doesn\u2019t mean no \u2014 no means no,\u201d the judge said. \u201cThe crime is being considered by the legislature as rape when a person says no, it\u2019s no. I take that very serious\u2026 The law now is when someone says no and you don\u2019t stop, that\u2019s rape. And that\u2019s where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanshaft, a former Brooklyn prosecutor in its Rackets Bureau, became a criminal court judge after he was elected to the Civil Court bench in 2017.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also the founder of My BarTunes, an musical study app designed to help law students prepare for the bar exam.<\/p>\n

The state Office of Court Administration did not respond to a request for comment on Hanshaft\u2019s sentencing decision.<\/p>\n

Hathaway\u2019s parole will be overseen by authorities in New York, though he can request to transfer it out of state.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou caused pain. You caused deep emotional pain,\u201d the judge told him. \u201cDon\u2019t ever let that happen again. Ever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A convicted rapist \u2014 who assaulted a Tinder date at his West Village apartment \u2014 got off with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":159595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,39800,10476,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,12650,17024,68665,25524,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969,19146],"class_list":{"0":"post-159594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-judges","10":"tag-manhattan-supreme-court","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkcity","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-rape","19":"tag-sentencing","20":"tag-soho-house","21":"tag-tinder","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-us-news","28":"tag-usa","29":"tag-west-village"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115057978502161964","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}