azathoth777
10-03-2006, 08:39 PM
The 15-year-old apologized for eight assaults - all on strangers - last year. Doctors and lawyers had said he was the victim of an abusive upbringing.
A 15-year-old boy who has been called "the worst serial rapist in the city's history" was sentenced yesterday to 30 to 60 years in prison.
Michael Massey, most recently of the city's Logan section and previously of West Philadelphia, pleaded guilty in April in Common Pleas Court to charges of raping or attempting to rape eight girls and women.
The attacks occurred between July and September 2005.
His victims - all strangers to him - were 16 to 32 years old. At the time, he was 14.
"I just want to say I'm sorry for everything I did," Massey said to Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Dembe yesterday. "I didn't want to do it. I didn't plan to. It's like something took over my mind."
Massey's parents, Michael Bennett and Dawn Massey, were in court yesterday. They expressed regret and apologized to the victims.
Four of his victims were in court yesterday, and two of them addressed the court.
One girl, who was 16 last September when she was raped by Massey, said: "This has changed my life dramatically... . I forgive him, yes, but I won't forget."
One woman, who was able to fend Massey off after he choked and touched her, said: "Counseling helped me to decide I can use this for other people."
She was 32 when she was attacked in August 2005 in Mount Airy. Crying and turning to look at Massey, she said: "That's my wish for you, Michael. That you can take this problem and see a solution that can help you."
Earlier, doctors and lawyers had painted a picture of a young man who himself was physically and sexually abused and could no longer control himself.
Psychologist Steven Samuel, who has evaluated Massey, compared him to "a container that's broken."
Massey, whose parents divorced when he was young, grew up in West Philadelphia. He moved to Barbados with his mother for about a year shortly after his 10th birthday. While there, an aunt he lived with would choke him as a form of "discipline," said his attorney, Allan Sagot.
After returning to Philadelphia, Massey lived with his mother's family, and later with his father and grandfather in Logan. He was physically abused by various relatives, and one male cousin sexually abused him, Sagot said.
"The one emotional string" that kept him going was a girlfriend, he added. They broke up after she cheated on him shortly before Valentine's Day 2005.
The eight sexual assaults, for which he was charged as an adult on rape, attempted rape, aggravated assault and related offenses, occurred from July 5 to Sept. 28, 2005, in West Philadelphia, Mount Airy, Hunting Park, Logan and Olney.
Prosecutor Leslie Gomez yesterday said Massey would approach the females from behind and "reach around and choke" them. He then dragged the victims, usually to a secluded area, where he assaulted them. Four of his victims were raped.
In the first attack, he threatened to kill a 21-year-old woman with a knife, choked her to the point of unconsciousness, and raped her, Gomez said.
The last assault was on a 17-year-old girl inside Olney High School, which Massey and the victim attended, Gomez said.
The first known attack took place in West Philadelphia on the afternoon of March 7, 2005. Massey shoved his hands into the pants of a 19-year-old woman. He was charged as a juvenile, Gomez said.
But - despite Massey's admission of guilt - Family Court Judge Robert Rebstock refused to find him delinquent, and he was not incarcerated, the District Attorney's Office said.
Earlier this year, Assistant District Attorney Eric Gibson, the prosecutor who argued in Family Court that Massey be tried as an adult, labeled him "the worst serial rapist in the city's history."
Gibson said at the time that if Massey was found guilty, he would be the youngest serial rapist in Philadelphia history.
Gomez asked the judge for a lengthy incarceration and suggested the State Correctional Institution at Pine Grove, Indiana County, a maximum-security facility for young male offenders, which focuses on treatment.
Dembe ordered Massey sent to Pine Grove. In addition to his prison term, she gave him 10 years of probation.
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ah, the innocence of youth...
A 15-year-old boy who has been called "the worst serial rapist in the city's history" was sentenced yesterday to 30 to 60 years in prison.
Michael Massey, most recently of the city's Logan section and previously of West Philadelphia, pleaded guilty in April in Common Pleas Court to charges of raping or attempting to rape eight girls and women.
The attacks occurred between July and September 2005.
His victims - all strangers to him - were 16 to 32 years old. At the time, he was 14.
"I just want to say I'm sorry for everything I did," Massey said to Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Dembe yesterday. "I didn't want to do it. I didn't plan to. It's like something took over my mind."
Massey's parents, Michael Bennett and Dawn Massey, were in court yesterday. They expressed regret and apologized to the victims.
Four of his victims were in court yesterday, and two of them addressed the court.
One girl, who was 16 last September when she was raped by Massey, said: "This has changed my life dramatically... . I forgive him, yes, but I won't forget."
One woman, who was able to fend Massey off after he choked and touched her, said: "Counseling helped me to decide I can use this for other people."
She was 32 when she was attacked in August 2005 in Mount Airy. Crying and turning to look at Massey, she said: "That's my wish for you, Michael. That you can take this problem and see a solution that can help you."
Earlier, doctors and lawyers had painted a picture of a young man who himself was physically and sexually abused and could no longer control himself.
Psychologist Steven Samuel, who has evaluated Massey, compared him to "a container that's broken."
Massey, whose parents divorced when he was young, grew up in West Philadelphia. He moved to Barbados with his mother for about a year shortly after his 10th birthday. While there, an aunt he lived with would choke him as a form of "discipline," said his attorney, Allan Sagot.
After returning to Philadelphia, Massey lived with his mother's family, and later with his father and grandfather in Logan. He was physically abused by various relatives, and one male cousin sexually abused him, Sagot said.
"The one emotional string" that kept him going was a girlfriend, he added. They broke up after she cheated on him shortly before Valentine's Day 2005.
The eight sexual assaults, for which he was charged as an adult on rape, attempted rape, aggravated assault and related offenses, occurred from July 5 to Sept. 28, 2005, in West Philadelphia, Mount Airy, Hunting Park, Logan and Olney.
Prosecutor Leslie Gomez yesterday said Massey would approach the females from behind and "reach around and choke" them. He then dragged the victims, usually to a secluded area, where he assaulted them. Four of his victims were raped.
In the first attack, he threatened to kill a 21-year-old woman with a knife, choked her to the point of unconsciousness, and raped her, Gomez said.
The last assault was on a 17-year-old girl inside Olney High School, which Massey and the victim attended, Gomez said.
The first known attack took place in West Philadelphia on the afternoon of March 7, 2005. Massey shoved his hands into the pants of a 19-year-old woman. He was charged as a juvenile, Gomez said.
But - despite Massey's admission of guilt - Family Court Judge Robert Rebstock refused to find him delinquent, and he was not incarcerated, the District Attorney's Office said.
Earlier this year, Assistant District Attorney Eric Gibson, the prosecutor who argued in Family Court that Massey be tried as an adult, labeled him "the worst serial rapist in the city's history."
Gibson said at the time that if Massey was found guilty, he would be the youngest serial rapist in Philadelphia history.
Gomez asked the judge for a lengthy incarceration and suggested the State Correctional Institution at Pine Grove, Indiana County, a maximum-security facility for young male offenders, which focuses on treatment.
Dembe ordered Massey sent to Pine Grove. In addition to his prison term, she gave him 10 years of probation.
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ah, the innocence of youth...