By Aaron Miller-
A New Yorker who pleaded guilty to rape has shamefully walked free, escaping jail, in what appears to be one of the worst court rulings ever given in a rape case.
20-year-old Christopher Belter of Lewiston pleaded guilty to rape and sex abuse back in 2019, following sexual attacks on four teenage girls.
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Christopher Belter was a teenage student at an elite private boys school, and ofen used his family’s New York home as a party house where teens gathered to consume liquor, marijuana and Adderall.
Rebellious Belter asked the 16 year old teenager to join him in his bedroom, th threw her onto the bed, pulled off her clothes , and told her to stop being such a baby, according to court documents.
At a hearing this summer, she described focusing her attention on the leaves of a plant in the room as the attack continued. so baffling, that one could be forgiven for imagining he took a bribe secretly, even if he did not.
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The grave effects of rape and the long term effect is has on its victims makes the judge’s verdict puzzling. He spared the teenager jail in the face of his horrifying act of rape, leaving observers stunned, and his victim numb with shock and disappointment.
Belter was expected to face an eight year jail sentence, but he was instead given eight years probation by questionnable Niagara County Judge Matthew Murphy.
The judge claimed to have ‘agonised’ over his decision. Belter, who must now register as a sex offender, will face no jail time.
Judge Murphy stated that he believed prison time would be ‘inappropriate’, saying he agonised over the decision.
He said; ‘I agonised — I’m not ashamed to say that I actually prayed over what is the appropriate sentence in this case, because there was great pain. There was great harm — there were multiple crimes committed in the case.
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.
Outlining a lengthy list of probation terms for Belter – which includes random polygraph and drug tests and no overnight trips, Judge Murphy warned him:
It’s going to be like a sword hanging over your head for the next eight years.
Belter was 17 back in 2018 when he was charged with first-degree rape, third-degree rape and sexual abuse involving 15 and 16-year-old girls at his family home in Lewiston.
Shameful: Judge Murphy inexplicably lets rapist off jail, saying he ‘agonized’ over the case before handing Belter eight years of probation.
A survivor present in the courtroom was visibly upset by the decision to give Belter prison time, for which Judge Murphy offered no further explanation.
Disappointed
Steven M. Cohen, a lawyer for a survivor known only as M.M., said. that his client had been left ‘deeply disappointed’ by the judge’s decision.
He told The New York Times that she ‘threw up in the ladies room following the sentencing’.
Cohen went on to emphasise that, ‘if Chris Belter was not a white defendant from a rich and influential family’ he ‘would surely have been sentenced to prison’, adding:
The truth of what went on and what he did to his victims is far more egregious than the charges he pleaded to.
Belter will return to court on December 2 for a Sex Offender Registration Act hearing, at which point it will be determined whether he will be classed as a level one, two or three sex offender.
However, the judge must be forced to explain why why he departed from expected legal standards, and allowed a rapist escape jail.
Judge Murphy has been contacted for comment, as the American public deserve a proper explanation for his lame verdict.
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