A 38-year old man accused of attempting to rape a woman on a footpath to Randalls Island in broad daylight told his victim he didn’t want to hurt her — even as he was choking her until she nearly lost consciousness, according to a criminal complaint. Howard Shaw, 38, was on his second day of parole on sexual abuse charges when he accosted a woman Thursday at 7:30 a.m., Manhattan prosecutors say. .“I don’t want to hurt you I just want sex,” Shaw allegedly told the woman as he attacked her on the Wards Island Bridge, which links E. 103rd St. to Randalls Island. He threw her to the ground and began choking her until she became lightheaded and nearly fainted, prosecutors said. Shaw made the disturbing statement to the woman, who is in her 50s, as he tried to pull down her pants, according to the complaint. A witness called 911 and Shaw was arrested shortly after the attack, cops said.
Shaw was sentenced to more than a dozen years in prison on sex abuse and assault charges in 2012, and was released from custody Tuesday. Police sources said he also raped a 25-year-old woman in Queens in 2005.A judge in the new case ordered Shaw — who was charged with attempted rape, strangulation and sexual abuse — held without bail while he gets psychiatric tests to see if he is mentally fit to stand trial. He is due back in Manhattan Criminal Court on Dec. 2.Shaw’s alleged sex attack came just minutes after a 27-year-old woman was raped in a secluded area in Central Park by The Pond near W. 59th St., police said. Police said the two attacks are not connected. Both of the Manhattan incidents occurred a day after a 13-year-old Bronx girl was raped in Crotona Park on her way home from school.