Photo: StreetEasy.com
Police caught him trying to ditch the panties in an outdoor trash can.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Sep 19, 2019
In a story that sounds like something a paranoid parent would use to discourage a child from moving to New York, a woman was asleep in her lower Manhattan apartment when she was awakened around 5am to find a man in her room. He was leaning over her bed and groping her. She screamed and he fled.
After speaking to the doorman of her building she was able to look at surveillance video and identified the man she had seen in her apartment on the tape. The doorman looked at the guy and said "That's Adam." Adam Lublin was a resident of the same building and he had been breaking into the victim's apartment and stealing her underwear for some time before he assaulted her in her sleep. Now he's facing multiple charges including burglary and sexual assault.
Who is Adam Lublin? Read on for all the details.
1. Waking to an assault
The victim, who has not been named, said she was asleep in her room in the early morning hours of September 15 when she woke to find a man standing over her bed groping her gentials. In court, Assistant DA Elizabeth Clerkin told Judge Anne Swern "[O]n Saturday night, the victim went to bed in her apartment, didn’t lock her apartment door and awoke around 5 a.m. to a white man with dark hair, heavyset, leaning over her bed and touching her vagina.” The victim screamed and the man left the apartment. She then went to her doorman and asked to see the surveillance video. The elevator camera captured film of Adam Lublin getting out at the victim's floor shortly before the assault, even though he didn't live on that floor of the building.
When he and victim reviewed the tape after the assault, the doorman knew who he was on sight, telling the victim "That's Adam," according to the New York Post. Then he told her his full name and apartment number, which she shared with police.
2. Stealing her underwear for weeks
When the victim talked to police, the assault wasn't the only creepy detail that she shared. According to the criminal complaint, "Over the past month, she noticed that pairs of her underwear were missing.” And it wasn't just the victim who was awakened in the night to find an intruder in her bedroom. Her roommate had shared a similar experience just a few days before. ADA Clerkin noted, "About a week ago, the victim’s roommate woke up in the middle of the night and saw a man hovering over her.”
Adam also previously approached the roommate in the hall when she was locked out of her apartment. Despite not actually knowing the woman, he offered to let her sleep over at his apartment, an invitation she wisely declined.
3. Evidence of the theft
Lublin wasn't home when police first came to investigate but building staff tipped them off when he returned, the New York Post reports. They waited until he was leaving the building via a service elevator and followed him on the street. He came out holding a cup with a flamingo straw, which he tried to ditch in a trash can. Cops retrieved it and found it filled with women's underwear. He must have realized that being caught assaulting a neighbor who then called the police was bad news for him so he tried to jettison some of the evidence, but not all of it. When police searched Lublin's apartment, they found several more pairs of women's underwear.
The victim later identified the straw and the panties as her own.
4. Music industry executive
Variety reports that Lublin is a music industry executive and talent agent who specialized in "urban acts." The New York Post noted that he has been photographed with artists like Swizz Beatz, Method Man and Maino. He was previously a VP and talent buyer at AEG but a source tells the paper that his employment was terminated for cause. Lublin then joined First Access, which manages the careers of Bebe Rexha, Rita Ora and Winnie Harlow, among others, and where he purportedly “brought in” rapper Young Thug. His now-former company issued a statement saying “We are extremely shocked and disturbed to read this report in the NY Post. First Access Entertainment has terminated all business dealings with Adam Lublin.” Lublin's social media accounts, including his LinkedIn profile has been deleted.
5. Multiple charges filed
Lublin appeared in court this week and was arraigned on multiple charges of two counts of burglary and one count of sexual abuse for the assault on Saturday night. The DA's office is investigating the incident where he was in the roommate's bedroom as a separate matter, according to the New York Post. The judge issued an order of protection so that Lublin isn't allowed to go near the victim or her apartment — or, presumably, her underwear drawer. Lublin was released on $175,000 bond.
Lublin faces multiple charges and a second investigation.
6. Presumption of innocence
Despite the pile of evidence against him, including police seeing him with the stolen panties actually in his possession, Lublin is pleading not guilty. "One of the backbones in our legal system is the presumption of innocence,” Lublin's defense lawyer Scott Leemon said. “Today, Adam will rely on that presumption of innocence.”
Lublin himself isn't commenting on the crime.
If you have been a victim of sexual assault and need help you can call the national sexual assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE to speak with someone or you can get help online at the RAINN website.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.