An Anchorage Superior Court judge sentenced 30-year-old John Robert Douglas, originally from Kotzebue, to 36 years in prison for sexually assaulting a partially disabled woman in the lobby of a Fifth Avenue office building in 2014, prosecutors said.
Police arrested Douglas in May 2014 after he grabbed the woman in the office building at midday, prosecutors said. The victim's disability stemmed from a serious car accident.
She had been walking slowly into the building for an appointment, and Assistant District Attorney James Fayette argued that Douglas targeted her for this reason.
Douglas inappropriately grabbed the woman and tried to force her into a stairwell, but office workers at a nearby advertising agency intervened and stopped the assault, prosecutors said.
He was convicted in May.
Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton handed down the lengthy sentence due to Douglas' multiple prior sex offenses, including some on family members, and other past crimes.
Douglas' court record showed that previous attempts at rehabilitation failed and resulted in no positive effect.
"Douglas' future crimes are predictable," Fayette told the court.