US: Man who pleaded guilty to rape, sexual assault of 4 teenage girls gets no jail time

A 20-year-old man from the Western New York, US convicted of raping four teenage girls at his ‘party house’ in 2018 was sentenced to eight years' probation for his crimes on Sunday, Nov. 20, as he swiftly escaped the jail time, as per US press reports. Judge Matthew J Murphy III in Niagara County, NY, who said that he “prayed to God” before pronouncing the judgment, told the courtroom that a prison sentence in Christopher Belter’s case "would be inappropriate”. The latter raped three 16-year-old girls and one 15-year-old girl in four separate incidents at his parent’s upstate New York’s Lewiston home between February 2017 and August 2018. 

He pleaded guilty in 2019 to felony charges that included third-degree rape and attempted first-degree sexual abuse as well as two misdemeanor charges of second-degree sexual abuse, the Post reported. Belter’s mother, stepfather, and a family friend helped groom the victims with alcohol and marijuana, the state police told US networks. They pleaded ‘not guilty' to the related charges of child endangerment and unlawfully dealing with a child. 

The US court placed the man on interim probation for two years and instated limitation on his internet access and restricted him from watching pornography, the court documents obtained by CNN revealed. Despite that he violated the terms of his probation, Judge Matthew J. Murphy denied him Youthful Offender status. 

"It seems to me that a sentence that involves incarceration or partial incarceration isn't appropriate, so I am going to sentence you to probation,” the judge reportedly said. 

Judge Murphy, who has now found himself in a pool of controversy, further made controversial remarks, saying that he was "agonized" over the sentence and is "not ashamed to say I actually prayed over what the appropriate sentence would be,” according to The Buffalo News.  He is set to retire next month aged 70. 

'He ruined me for a very long time': One of four rape survivors angered at ruling 

Steven Cohen, a lawyer for one of the rape survivors told the outlet that he was disgusted and enraged at the ruling. "My client, one of four of Belter’s rape victims, threw up in the ladies room following the sentencing," Cohen said, according to The Buffalo News. "Justice was not done here today," Cohen stressed, adding that the American man “is privileged, he comes from money, he is white.” 

Lawyer Cohen went on to add, “He [Belter] was sentenced as an adult, appropriately. For an adult to get away with these crimes is unjust.”

Survivor Jane Doe was 15 and best friends with Belter’s sister at the time she was sexually assaulted by him. She was “simply hanging out” at his house with his sister, when he, what she alleged, drugged her with a vape pen and raped her in his room. “He ruined me for a very long time,” said the 19-year-old college student in a broadcast video aired by Inside Edition. “I actually threw up the last three days consecutively. I’ve lost four pounds because I’ve been so physically ill from anxiety and disgust,” the rape survivor said. “At one point, Christopher asked me if I was OK,” she stated.

Parents 'just as guilty' for supplying minor son with booze, drugs, says second rape survivor 

As the judge created a national outrage that turned into a furor on social media, another woman survivor identified just with her initials “M.M." told the Inside Edition that Belter’s case “wasn't a party house case, but this was a house of sexual assault” with both his mother and stepfather facing criminal complaints about supplying their minor son at the time with alcohol and drugs. “The parents would throw parties and sit in the kitchen,” she told the US-based network, adding that Belter’s mother “is just as guilty as he is. She collected girls for him to play with like dolls.” 

In a tearful message to her assaulter, the survivor said in the footage, “I know that you took so many pieces of me with you when you attacked me.”