Alleged rapist gives woman 3 choices: death, rape or sex with son

QUEENS, New York -- A man is accused of posing as a construction worker and raping a woman in her home as her adult son was bound and locked in a nearby room.

Officials said 33-year-old Joshua Henderson of Brooklyn, faces rape and burglary charges in the brutal attack.

Henderson is accused of dressing up as a construction worker by wearing a hard hat, reflective vest, and work boots and knocking on the door of the victim's home Monday.

He allegedly told the woman that there was work being done on the roof and told her to close the curtains. Police said he climbed into the woman's bedroom window.

When she walked into the room, he told her to drop her cell phone, authorities said.

Telling the victim he had a gun, Henderson allegedly tied up both the woman and her son and then grabbed jewelry, cash and other items from the residence.

Officials said he then allegedly told the woman she had three choices: "I can choke you and kill you with this pillow, you can have sex with me or I will force you to have sex with your son."

Henderson was recently paroled after spending 12 years in prison for burglary.

He's been arrested twice since then.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea called this a "troubling incident" and said it brings up a greater issue.

"This case highlights a fundamental breakdown. How do you have an individual that's paroled for burglaries and a short time after, within a month or two, caught with the proceeds of a burglary and he's not violated?" he said.

Shea said he's concerned with New York state's sweeping criminal justice reform that passed earlier this year.

Under the new legislation, which will go into effect in January 2020, cash bail will be limited.

Henderson faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.