Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 42-year-old Thomas Brooks of Buffalo has been sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski to 7 years in prison followed by 20 years of post-release supervision. 

During the late evening of June 16 until the early morning of June 17, 2016, the defendant forcibly raped a woman inside his Highgate Avenue residence.

The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of Rape in the First Degree, a B felony, on March 16, 2018.

Upon his release, Brooks will be required to register as a sex offender.

DA Flynn commends the investigative work of Detective Jeffrey Banes of the Buffalo Police Department Sex Offense Squad and the team of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners at ECMC.

Assistant District Attorney Bethany A. Solek of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau prosecuted the case.