Man sentenced in rapes of teenage girls in Queens

March 14, 2006, 7:13 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) _ A man linked by DNA evidence to two attacks on teenage girls pleaded guilty to rape on Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Each girl had been walking home in Queens when Jofre Bautista dragged her into a vehicle to beat and rape her, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a news release.

Bautista, 34, of Brooklyn, faces two concurrent terms of 20 years in prison and will be required to register as a sexual offender when he is sentenced on March 27.

The first attack took place in December 2003, when Bautista grabbed a 15-year-old girl from behind and pulled her into his car, Brown said.

In October 2005, a 13-year-old girl walking home from school was raped after Bautista, the father of two young daughters, asked her for directions and then punched her in the face, authorities said. The girl was pulled into a van, where she was beaten and raped.

The attack on the 15-year-old girl was linked to Bautista through DNA found on the 13-year-old victim's clothing, Brown said.

"This case underscores yet again the crucial importance of DNA evidence, which is irrefutable proof of guilt or innocence," Brown said.

Bautista's attorney, Harold Levy, did not immediately return a telephone message.