A gym buff was convicted this week of sexually assaulting a transgender woman in the bathroom of a Manhattan Starbucks.
Taren Tyler, 33, was found guilty of criminal sex act and sexual abuse at trial in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday.
The 27-year-old victim said she met Tyler for their first date at the coffee shop near Penn Station on Jan. 30, 2017.
Tyler went to the bathroom to roll a marijuana cigarette and asked the woman to meet him in the restroom, the victim said.
When she got there, Tyler grabbed her by the hair and pulled her inside, the woman testified.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked, according to her testimony.
She said she did not move or scream because she was “frozen” with fear.
Tyler, who is a bulky 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, used his strength to force the 5-foot-7, 160-pound victim to perform oral sex on him.
Then he raped her as he warned her not to get him angry.
The victim, who hasn’t yet had sex reassignment surgery, said she hadn’t told Tyler she was transgender at the time of the assault, as they met just a few days prior at a New York Sports Club on the Upper West Side where she worked.
Tyler had a completely different take on the date.
He testified they got hot and heavy at the table at Starbucks and she put her hand on his groin.
Inside the bathroom, Tyler said the victim willingly gave him oral sex without him knowing about her trans status, which “traumatized” him and “grossed” him out when she disclosed it after.
“I was shocked and dazed,” he said. “And angry.”
“I felt like she took something from me,” he added.
He claimed that he was “embarrassed” by the whole ordeal.
“I'm like, ‘Can you just leave?’ ” he testified about his reaction. “Just leave me the f--k alone.”
“You didn’t tell me. You sucked my d--k,” he barked at her as she tried to explain herself, according to court records.
Tyler’s lawyer, Glenn Hardy, said the accuser’s story didn’t add up.
On the stand, the woman said that after the assault she took a walk and shared a joint with Tyler.
“No sane person walks down the street sharing a joint with a guy she’s afraid is going to kill her,” Hardy said.
“And a Starbucks empty on a Monday night?” he added. “This case had reasonable doubt written all over it.”
Tyler faces up to 25 years in prison at his April 2 sentencing.
