Montgomery County

Man Convicted of Raping Nurse on Red Line Train

The victim testified in court that she pleaded with her attacker: "please don't hurt me"

A D.C. man was convicted Tuesday of raping a nurse at knifepoint during daylight hours aboard a Red Line train in 2016.

John Hicks, 41, faces two life sentences for first degree rape and a first degree sex offense. He may be sentenced to an additional 10 years on a second degree assault charge.

Hicks was accused of forcing the victim to perform oral sex on him as he brandished a knife aboard the Glenmont-bound train at 10 a.m. on April 12, 2016, News4 reported.

A jury convicted Hicks after the victim gave emotional testimony in court recalling the attack, News4 reported.

She said she had fallen asleep on a Red Line train at 9 a.m. after working an overnight nursing shift. She told jurors a man approached her and showed her a knife, News4 reported.

As the train continued, the documents say, the man she identified as Hicks approached her and asked her questions such as, "Do you have a boyfriend?" and "Are you going to Glenmont?"

Hicks then displayed a folding knife while the train was at the Forest Glen Station, according to the victim's statement.

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He then enveloped the woman in a "bearhug," the statement reads. He forced her to another part of the railcar where he attempted to have sex with her and forced her to perform oral sex all while the knife was in his hand, she told police. At some point, a struggle over the knife left the victim with a cut to her finger, she said.

The victim told police she worried Hicks would kill her if she did not comply.

She told jurors she pleaded with him: "Please don't hurt me."

At the Glenmont station, Hicks left the car but ordered the victim to stay where she was, she said in her statement. She told police she saw him re-enter the train on another rail car, and police said cameras appear to show him exiting the station and paying the fare with a SmartTrip card.

A SmartTrip card registered under Hicks' name shows a charge at Glenmont that day, police said. A Metro Transit officer who reviewed the security camera video recognized Hicks as a man suspected of exposing himself on a Metro train 10 days earlier.

Before he was arrested for the rape on the Red Line, Hicks was suspected in an indecent exposure case, News4 learned.

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