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Bridgewater Woman Attacked While Running Speaks Out

The 37-year-old woman shared that while she was being attacked, she thought, 'this is not how my story ends'

A Bridgewater, Massachusetts woman is speaking out just a few days after she fought off the man who allegedly sexually assaulted her and tried to abduct her.

“There was a lot of… this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening. Then when I….. I think the moment that he actually grabbed me was when I kind of had to be like…ok this is actually happening. And I just kind of like, this is not how my story ends. I, I am not going to let this happen. And then just, what do I have to do… to be ok.”

The 37-year-old jogger not only fought back but also took a photo of the suspect's car that eventually led to his arrest.

Gordon Lyons, 57, of Bridgewater, hid his face as he was arraigned Tuesday on charges of kidnapping and indecent assault and battery.

But prosecutors said this is not the first time Lyons has faced charges of violently sexually assaulting someone.

Prosecutor David Cutshall said, “The defendant is a convicted rapist as of 1978 on a Barnstable Superior Court charge of rape.”

NBC10 Boston dug into the records at Barnstable Superior Court and found that is not true.

Lyons was accused of rape in Provincetown in June of 1978, when he was just 17. 

He was found not competent to stand trial and was committed to Bridgewater State Hospital.

But in 1984, a judge found him “not guilty by reason of insanity.”

Court records show Lyons then spent a mere six months at Bridgewater State Hospital after he was deemed not guilty by reason of insanity.

It’s unclear whether he was committed elsewhere after that because at that point the case went from criminal to civil, limiting public access to those records.

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