The half-naked sex fiend charged with attempting to rape a woman in a Manhattan subway was free to commit the brutal attack after he was given just 15 days in jail last year for two public sex crimes, The Post has learned.
Lamel Batten, 44 — a homeless career criminal and gangbanger with 51 prior busts — got the 2023 wrist slap in connection to a pair of separate lewd acts he committed on Manhattan trains, the DA’s Office said.
That was the only time that Batten could have been taken off the street for an extended period but wasn’t, as he was busted this year for stealing two laptops but only spent four months in jail, despite his dozens of previous arrests.
In fact, the reputed gang member had five open warrants at the time he allegedly tried to rape a woman at the 116th Street/Columbia University subway station around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, sources said.
“How do we say we’re the safest big city in the world when a guy like this is walking around on the streets doing this to innocent, unsuspecting women?” one law enforcement source told The Post.
“When do we say enough is enough when we put somebody like this away?”
The 15-day sentence stemmed from two cases. The first was for allegedly pleasuring himself in front of a woman inside the 145th Street No. 1 train station on Dec. 21, 2022.
That woman snapped his photo and reported the sicko to police, according to a criminal complaint.
In the second case, Batten allegedly masturbated in front of a 31-year-old woman on an uptown No. 1 train approaching the 181st Street train station on March 15, 2023, cops said.
In a March 24, 2023 “global disposition” on both cases, Batten pleaded guilty to two counts of public lewdness, a class B misdemeanor, and was handed the two-week sentence.
Then on March 6 of this year, Batten was sentenced to just six months behind bars for allegedly stealing two laptops from an Upper West Side Citizens Bank, according to the Manhattan DA’s Office.
He spent time in lock-up from March 14 through July 12, a rep from the city’s Department of Correction said.
He also has five bench warrants in connection to disorderly conduct and petit larceny cases in the Bronx, all issued on April 24, according to sources.
He continued his pervy antics just weeks ago — when he was caught masturbating on the No. 1, 2, 3 platform at the 96 Street and Broadway station around 8 p.m. on Sept. 4, according to a criminal complaint.
The charges were not bail-eligible and Manhattan prosecutors requested supervised release.
Then came the most recent, most violent crime
Batten allegedly pounced on a 21-year-old woman as she got off a platform bench at the 116th Street – Columbia University subway station around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Batten — naked with his pants down — allegedly threw the victim against a wall in the No. 1 train station before he violently snatched her shirt down and shoved his face between her breasts, sources said.
The perv then allegedly tried to take off her pants, but the victim managed to break away and ran to the mezzanine level of the station, where she told cops about the disgusting attack, according to sources.
Batten was arrested at the scene and charged with attempted rape, cops said.
His arraignment in connection to the sick offense was still pending Friday evening.
Batten, a member of the violent street gang Nine Trey, has a rap sheet of 51 prior busts – mostly for public lewdness, resisting arrest and drug possession, sources said.
He served his first state prison stint from October of 2010 to March of 2012 on charges related to drug sales, Corrections records show.
He was back behind bars in December of 2017 for criminal possession of a controlled substance and was granted parole less than a year later.