A 20-year-old man who pleaded guilty to rape charges will face no jail time, WKBW7 reported.
Christopher Belter pleaded guilty to rape and sexual abuse after raping four teenage girls at his parents’ home when he was a teenager, WKBW7 reported.
Belter’s crimes occurred between February 2017 and August 2018 when he was 16 and 17, respectively, according to Washington Post. In 2018, Belter was charged with first degree and third degree rape as well as sexual abuse in 2018.
Belter also pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree sex abuse and third degree rape in 2019, according to WKBW7. Belter would be granted Youthful Offender status if he completed his interim probation status of 2 years. (RELATED: Mother Of Loudoun County Rape Victim Vows To Sue School District: ‘We Were Silenced’)
Niagara County Judge Matthew Murphy sentenced Belter to 8 years of probation and is required to register as a sex offender, WKBW7 reported.
Belter must register as a sex offender. @WKBW https://t.co/AUPNvVZ5sH
— eileen buckley (@eileenwkbw) November 16, 2021
“Through treatment and reflection, I’ve come to feel deep shame and regret for my actions none of you deserved to be in this situation,” Belter said, according to WKBW7. “I hope each of you could close that wound I gashed.”
Judge Murphy added that jail time would be “inappropriate”, adding that there “was great harm in this case and that “a sentence that involves incarceration or partial incarceration isn’t appropriate,” WKBW7 reported.
Attorney Steve Cohen, who represented one of the victims, said he was “deeply disappointed” in the outcome of the case.
“Justice was not done today. He is privileged. He comes from money. He is white. He was sentenced as an adult, appropriately — for an adult to get away with these crimes is unjust,” Cohen said, according to WKBW7.
Belter will return to court Dec. 3 to see what level of sex offender will be determined for him, the Washington Post reported.