Georgetown man sentenced to 30 years in connection with sexual assault on neighbor

By Claire Osborn | Thursday, May 24, 2012, 02:38 PM
statesman.com

An illegal immigrant living in Georgetown who tried to to bribe his victim was convicted of burglary of a habitation with attempt to commit sexual assault, according to the Williamson County District Attorney’s office.

A Williamson County jury sentenced Khaliq Mahmood, a 57-year-old illegal immigrant from Pakistan, to 30 years in prison, according to a news release from the district attorney’s office.

A woman told Georgetown police that on June 27, 2011 she had awoke in her apartmentand found Mahmood having sex with her, according to the release. She told police that she had not given Mahmood permission to come into her apartment or have sex with her, the release said.

The woman and Mahmood had been drinking together earlier in the evening, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said.

A neighbor had also seen Mahmood going into and out of the woman’s apartment during the time the assault happened, the release said.

Mahmood lived in the same apartment complex on Apple Creek Drive and told police that he had known her for six months but they had never had any physical contact, according to the release. He told police that he didn’t know why she had accused him and that she was intoxicated, the release said.

DNA tests done after a sexual assault examination linked Mahmood to the woman, according to the release.

Mahmood testified during the trial that the woman had sexually assaulted him at his apartment, according to the press release. Prosecutors then confronted him with evidence that he tried to bribe the woman to drop the charges against him by offering her $5,000 to $10,000, the release said. Mahmood admitted during the trial to making the offer, according to the release.

Members of the jury found out during the punishment hearing that Mahmood had illegally entered the U.S. in 2010 by crossing the Rio Grande in Roma, the release said.

He asked immigration officials who confronted him for political asylum and they released him after he promised to appear for a hearing, the release said.

His asylum case is still pending but further details are not available, said Bradley. Mahmood was not charged with sexual assault because the burglary charge carried a higher punishment range, said Bradley.

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