Cops yesterday nabbed an alleged serial rapist suspected of assaulting a 16-year-old girl in her home Friday morning as he held her younger brother at knifepoint.
Jamaal Holton, 26, of The Bronx, is charged with first-degree criminal sex act, robbery and weapons possession. He is also charged in connection with four other sex attacks on Bronx women since October.
The latest victim, the 16-year-old, picked Holton out of a police photo lineup despite the fact the brutal rape had left her scared to leave her home.
“I felt relief when I found out he was arrested,” she said as she struggled to hold back tears.
“I don’t have to worry about him coming around here anymore. I can go outside now.”
Holton allegedly pushed his way into the family’s apartment and assaulted the girl in front of her 13- year-old brother, who tried to come to her aid only to be threatened with the knife.
Holton surrendered yesterday at the 52nd Precinct station house.
“I hope he stays in prison the rest of his life,” the girl told The Post in front of her father. “I want him to suffer the way I’m suffering right now.”
After tearfully meeting two of the other rape victims for the first time at the station house, she said, “I just feel for the other girls . . . I understand where they’re coming from.
“We just spoke about what happened,” she added. “He did the same thing to them.
“It’s painful to talk about it. We were crying, expressing our feelings. We’re just happy that he’s caught and he’ll be in prison for years.”
The teenager’s dad, who took her out yesterday to buy a replacement for the cellphone the rapist stole, said he felt shaken but pleased that Holton was no longer on the street.
“I’m nervous,” he said, standing protectively near his daughter. ” I don’t know what to do anymore.
Additional reporting by Erin Calabrese