Life in prison is anticipated for a registered sex offender convicted of accosting and attempting to rape a woman in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, leaving her battered and unconscious in what may have been his second such crime within hours that night.

Jurors in Hennepin County took less than two hours Monday to convict Keith E. Washington, 39, of Minneapolis, on two counts of attempted first-degree sexual conduct, two counts of attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and single counts of first-degree robbery and first-degree assault.

With Monday’s convictions and the jury’s findings that he acted with particular cruelty toward his victim on Dec. 6, Washington’s presumptive sentence is life in prison but with the possibility of parole. Washington, who represented himself, remains jailed ahead of sentencing on May 12.

He is registered with the state as a Level 3 sex offender, meaning he’s considered among those most likely to commit another sex offense.

He was convicted in 2000 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. In that case, he choked a woman he knew until she passed out at her house in north Minneapolis and raped her as her two young children watched.

According to the charges in the second assault on Dec. 6, officers were called about a rape in progress and found the 28-year-old victim unconscious in a front yard.

The woman said that she had been visiting nearby bars. While she was on the phone calling for a ride, Washington approached her and became a bother, the charges said.

He walked with the woman for a couple of blocks and then tackled her, choking her until she blacked out, according to the charges. She awoke to find herself partly undressed and her cellphone gone.

Two adults passing by told police they saw the attack unfold and reported Washington had said the woman was “fine.” The witnesses then called police.

Officers soon found Washington with the victim’s cellphone and identification card. They also discovered that he had a cellphone, identification card and bag of groceries reportedly taken a few hours earlier from the earlier Uptown sexual assault victim.

Authorities also have been looking into whether Washington is connected to a similar sexual assault on Nov. 22 in an Uptown parking ramp.

Along with the sex crime allegations, Washington has a long list of convictions for offenses involving violence and illicit drug use that span nearly all of his adult life, at times occurring while he was serving time.