Jason Melo smirked in court Friday as he was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and forcing her walk the public street naked while he berated her and videotaped the incident.
The 26-year-old was found guilty by a New York State Supreme Court jury of the top charge he faced, coercion in the first degree, as well as assault in the third degree, menacing in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated harassment in the second degree.
In January 2016 he forced his girlfriend to walk down a Harlem street in the cold, naked while he recorded.
He later uploaded it online as a punishment for her messaging other men.
‘Jasson Melo assaulted his former girlfriend, then forced her to walk naked, in the middle of winter, down a public street while their two-month-old baby was left unattended upstairs,’ District Attorney Cyrus Vance said.
‘To further degrade her, he recorded the ordeal, then had the audacity to brag about his actions, sharing the video with multiple friends and even attempting to profit from it.
Jason Melo, 26, was convicted of coercion in the first degree, assault in the third degree and other charges after he abused and tortured his ex-girlfriend in January 2016 for speaking to other men
Melo was found guilty of the crimes Friday by a jury in New York State Supreme Court
Melo smirked and covered his face in court as he was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and forcing her walk the public street naked while he berated her and videotaped the incident
The abusive Melo posed for photographers as he awaiting his trial Friday in New York City
‘This defendant has never demonstrated an ounce of remorse for his disgusting and violent conduct. I thank the survivor in this case for her incredible bravery in coming forward and testifying against her former domestic partner at trial. Thankfully, because of her courage, he is being held accountable.’
On Monday, the 24-year-old victim burst into tears on the stand as jurors watched the footage in shock.
‘He grabbed my neck, and forced it really hard. I was losing breath,’ the woman testified.
The woman, whose name has been withheld said Melo, ‘tortured’ her for two hours before he pushed her out into the cold and pulled out his cell phone out for the extreme incident.
‘He was saying many things, like I’m a whore, I could kill you right now, I’m capable of anything,’ the woman told the court.
The woman, whose name has been withheld said Melo, ‘tortured’ her for two hours before he pushed her out into the cold and pulled out his cell phone to record her
The ordeal lasted for several hours as Melo threatened to kill her after finding explicit texts from other men on her cell phone.
Melo also allegedly swung a heavy stone Buddha statue at her, as if he intended to bash her head in, while their two-month old daughter lay on the bed, just feet away.
She was left with bruising, swelling and pain after the violence, which she called police to inform of the following day.
In the footage which was posted to Instagram and LiveLeak, Melo could be seen following the partner, wrapped in a bath towel, down the block while he spewed profanities at her in Spanish.
In the two-minute clip which was seen by jurors on Monday, Melo was seen pulling the towel away forcing her to stand between two parked cars in an attempt to cover her modesty.
Melo pictured listening to testimony from his ex-girlfriend in court. He allegedly tried to profit off his twisted fame by trying to sell merchandise with quotes from the degrading footage
The woman, who is initially wearing a towel, is then stripped and made to walk around in the street while trying desperately to cover herself with the dust jacket from a motorcycle (right)
Melo ordered her: ‘Take off your towel! Co-operate b***h. Show what you are, so pretty and so great. She’s a tart. Let’s go. Let’s go. Say hi to the camera and say why you’re doing this.
‘Take off your towel and pay the price for the shame I feel after telling you how pretty you were and that I wanted to start a family with you, but it the meantime you were talking to seven other men.’
The woman retorts: ‘But not to have sex with them.’
He then rips the towel from her, leaving her completely naked in the street, apart from a pair of boots. As she tried to hide between parked cars, he continued to hurl insults at her.
‘Pay the price for your shame!’ he bellowed at her. ‘You’re going to pay the price for being a whore. Since you’re a whore, you’re going to pay like a whore.’
Melo has been charged with coercion, assault, aggravated harassment, menacing, criminal obstruction of breathing and endangering the welfare of a child
Prosecutors said Melo sent the footage to various contacts on her phone and that it was posted online and went viral
‘There, on the trash, exactly,’ he sneered as she stopped by some trashcans. ‘Pose with your trash.’
The woman eventually wrapped herself in a motorcycle cover while Melo continued to film.
Adding insult to injury, Melo later tried to sell merchandise based on the video, including t-shirts and hats bearing his quotes.
One flat-billed cap bore the phrase, ‘Let’s go, participa,’ which Melo says in the video.
At the time of his arrest Melo defended his actions saying: ‘I didn’t hit her or anything. Even the detectives are here with me and some of them congratulated me because they see how happy she is and I didn’t pull her hair or anything.
‘Some of the other prisoners are also on my side and they say some of them would have done worse things.’
Meanwhile the woman he beat has revealed that she was scared of Melo.
She told Univision: ‘He started threatening me, he threatened to slash my face.’
She said that since the incident occurred she began hiding out in her apartment afraid while she takes care of her newborn daughter.
Melo faces up to seven years behind bars on the top count of felony coercion.