LEWISTON – A local man accused of following a woman to her apartment and forcing her to have sex pleaded guilty to rape Wednesday.

Horow Omah Hagi, 43, was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by five years of probation for the July 10 incident.

His victim, a stranger who he approached on Lisbon Street, spoke in court Wednesday about how the rape has affected her life.

“I wish he didn’t have the right to do what he did to me,” she said, her voice cracking. “He hurt me in a lot of ways.”

Hagi approached a woman as she was walking to her apartment on Lisbon Street and started grabbing her breasts over her shirt. He asked her if she smoked pot or drank, then he started grabbing her breasts on top of her shirt.

She said she attempted to bat his hand away, but he didn’t stop. Then he followed her to her apartment door while telling her that he loved her and he would treat her well.

Hagi followed the woman into her apartment and started to take off her clothes. The woman said she didn’t fight because she was scared the man would become violent.

Hagi eventually made the woman give him oral sex, then he forced her to have intercourse without a condom.

The woman told police that she was afraid to move after the incident. She remained still on her bed as Hagi took a shower, then left.

She didn’t call police until the next morning when Hagi showed up at her door. Hagi was gone when officers arrived. But he returned the next day.

Police found Hagi walking on Chestnut Street. He was taken to the police station for questioning and charged with gross sexual assault after the victim identified him in a six-person lineup.

The charge carried a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

Hagi’s court-appointed attorney and Assistant District Attorney Deborah Potter Cashman agreed to a sentence of six years, with all but 18 months suspended.

Cashman told Justice Ellen Gorman that she agreed to the deal because she was concerned that a jury might find Hagi not guilty based on the fact that the victim did not fight him, and the state had no physical evidence showing force.

“She was very fearful,” Cashman said.

Hagi’s arrest came less than a month after he pleaded guilty to stalking a 14-year-old newspaper delivery girl. He was convicted of that charge on June 24 and sentenced to two days in jail, followed by one year of probation.

A Somali immigrant, he had been living on Knox Street. Gorman told him Wednesday that he will likely be deported from the United States after he serves his time.

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