Charge: Notorious flasher raped Seattle woman returning home from work Sex offender fresh from prison accused in Pioneer Square rape

Anthony Hawkins, pictured in a King County Sheriff's Office photo. Hawkins, 37, is a registered sex offender now accused of raping a woman outside her Pioneer Square apartment. Anthony Hawkins, pictured in a King County Sheriff's Office photo. Hawkins, 37, is a registered sex offender now accused of raping a woman outside her Pioneer Square apartment. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Charge: Notorious flasher raped Seattle woman returning home from work 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A Seattle flasher fresh from prison is back behind bars following allegations he raped a woman in the entrance to her Pioneer Square apartment building.

Charged with rape, Anthony P. Hawkins is alleged to have raped the woman in the early hours of May 19 as she was returning home from work. Hawkins, 37, had been out of prison for a month after serving time following a string of aggressive flashings.

King County prosecutors contend Hawkins attacked the woman as she was returning home from work. According to charging papers, the entire incident was caught on camera.

Returning home by taxi shortly before 4 a.m., the woman was unlocking her building’s front door when Hawkins attacked her from behind, a Seattle police detective said in charging papers.

Hawkins pushed her to the ground, dropped his pants and raped the woman in the apartment alcove before calmly walking away, the detective continued. A passerby spotted her and called for police.

Officers responding to the area spotted Hawkins nearby. He was arrested and subsequently identified by the woman as her assailant; according to charging papers, she told police she’d never seen Hawkins before.

Questioned by police, Hawkins claimed he’d known the woman for years, the detective told the court. He is alleged to have claimed they had consensual sex.

Video of the attack and injuries the woman received disproved Hawkins’ account, the detective continued.

The attack marks an alarming escalation for Hawkins, who’d previously been convicted of indecent exposure five times, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Carla Carlstrom said in charging papers.

Jailed for indecent exposure in November 2012, Hawkins was arrested again nine days after his release. That time, he was caught approaching people in Columbia City before exposing himself and masturbating in front of them.

Sentenced to 16 months in prison, Hawkins was released April 14, five weeks before his arrest on the new allegations.

“The current offense is a major escalation in violence from his previous acts,” Carlstrom said in charging papers. Hawkins, she continued, “poses an extreme danger to the community.”

Jailed on $500,000 bail, Hawkins has been charged with second-degree rape.

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Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.