Man Who Raped Four Teen Girls Gets Zero Jail Time: ‘Incarceration Isn’t Appropriate’

A 20-year-old man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting four teenage girls in four separate incidents at his parents’ home will not see the inside of a jail cell.

Instead, Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III sentenced Christopher Belter to eight years probation. Murphy, who said he “agonized” over the case, in which he acknowledged “great harm” had been done, said that jail time “would be inappropriate.”

Belter, who will have to register as a sex offender, pleaded guilty in 2019 to charges of rape and sexual abuse. He is “tremendously remorseful for what he has done,” according to his attorney.

Murphy told the defendant that the probationary sentence would be “like a sword hanging over your head for the next eight years.” Belter’s victims, three then-16-year-olds and one 15-year-old, were assaulted between February 2017 and August 2018 at his family’s notorious “party house.”

Belter’s mother, stepfather, and a family friend, who state police said helped groom the victims with alcohol and marijuana, have pleaded not guilty to related charges of child endangerment and unlawfully dealing with a child.

“Justice was not done today,” Steven M. Cohen, a lawyer for one of the victims, told reporters on Tuesday. Speaking to The Washington Post a day later, Cohen said one of his clients threw up after the sentencing. “If Chris Belter was not a white defendant from a rich and influential family, in my experience… he would surely have been sentenced to prison.”

Original Article: https://www.thedailybeast.com/christopher-belter-gets-no-jail-time-from-judge-matthew-j-murphy-after-pleading-guilty-to-raping-girls

11 thoughts on “Man Who Raped Four Teen Girls Gets Zero Jail Time: ‘Incarceration Isn’t Appropriate’

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    1. When a job she,lawyer,prosecutor frees a serial rapist,murderer,drug dealer. You and I both know . He is capable or his family of the same acts. Or have already I see them as accessories too each act and charge

  1. Another liberal judge bought by the wealthy. Wonder what his judgment would have been if it was his daughter?

  2. SINCE THE DEFENDANT WAS 16 AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENTS AND THE GIRLS WERE THE SAME AGE IT’S THE DEFENDANT’S PARENTS THAT SHOULD GO TO JAIL FOR HAVING THE KINDS OF PARTIES THAT LED TO THE INCIDENTS !!!

    1. I disagree with you, Randall Craig! At 16, you know right from wrong. He should be held accountable! And his parents need to be charged as well. With accessories before and after the crimes. I don’t care what color you are or how much money you have, you need to be accountable for your actions! Even 10 year olds know right from wrong.

  3. If this would have been a black defendant I wonder what the verdict would have been? 20 years minimum I would be willing to wager.

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