After seeing photos of himself in the news, an Occupy Wall Street protester suspected of rape turned himself in to police over the weekend, where he was arrested in not one but two different rape cases, including for one alleged sex assault against a 14-year-old girl earlier this summer.
According to police, Jackie Barcliff, 44, surrendered himself on Friday night.
His photo had been widely published, including on the pages of Metro, as a suspect wanted for the alleged rape of a woman last Monday, Sept. 10, at Pier 15 park near the South Street Seaport. He threw the woman 20 feet off the park after the brutal attack, police say.
Barcliff, who is homeless, was charged with rape and attempted murder in the Pier 15 attack Friday, police said.
But that same night, investigators say they pieced together that Barcliff is also alleged to be the same man who they say raped a 14-year-old girl on August 12 in Midtown.
Barcliff allegedly offered the young teen a place to stay for the night, police charge, and, during the course of the night, he raped her.
Barcliff was charged with first- and second-degree rape in the Aug. 12 incident.
In the Sept. 10 incident, Barcliff is accused of inviting his victim, a 56-year-old woman who is also involved in the OWS movement, to the top level of the new Pier 15 park overlooking the East River at about 2 a.m. Police said Barcliff then raped the woman before throwing her over the railing, causing her to fall to the ground and break her pelvis and leg.
The woman told police she recognized Barcliff from previous OWS demonstrations.
Barcliff is a known member of the Occupy Wall Street movement, police said.
According to cops, he was arrested for assault and resisting arrest in front of Zuccotti Park in December. Cops said Barcliff then tried to escape after they apprehended him.
Police said Barcliff has frequented other OWS gathering sites in Lower Manhattan in the past.
