A Rotterdam man who admitted to raping a 14-year-old girl was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Tuesday.
The defendant, identified as 37-year-old Michael Randy Rabine, pleaded guilty to first-degree rape in August this year. The investigation into the case, particularly the man's behavior, began when the teenage victim told her mom that Rabine had been raping her.
Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison
The girl told investigators that the defendant forced her to have sexual intercourse and perform sexual acts on him. The teenage girl also said that Rabine told her that an imaginary man named "Ricky" would kill him if she rejected his requests. She said she followed his orders because she felt that the man's death would significantly impact her life.
Additionally, the victim said that Ricky would send her and Rabine text messages with his requests. The messages graphically described sex acts that the imaginary man wanted the young girl to perform on the defendant. They often came with a threat such as, "Not if I kill you first. Now make her do this or I'll go after her next," according to CBS6 Albany.
Law enforcement personnel searched both Rabine's and the teenage girl's phones and were able to determine that the man was actually the one sending the messages. He did this through an app that allowed him to send a text using a different number.
As part of the man's guilty plea, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with an additional 20 years of post-release supervision. After Rabine is released, he will be required to register as a sex offender, WNYT reported.
Admitting To Raping a 14-Year-Old Girl
There was a separate case of rape where the female victim was told that she "deserved it" and that it was what "white girls are for." The suspects in the case, Sageer Hussain, Kessur Ajaib, and Mohammed Makhmood, have all denied raping the girl, who was 14 at the time of the alleged incidents.
Prosecutor Andrew Bailey told the jury in the case that the victim, who is now in her 30s, was an "immature and vulnerable young girl" when she started hanging around a youth club in the town. He added that young Asian men frequently went to the club; some were around the victim's age, while others were a little older.
Bailey said that the victim met Ajaib at the youth club and that he started to sexually assault her after rumors went around that she had consensual sex with a boy of her own age, as per BBC.
