Christopher Belter: He Sexually Abused Teenage Girls. The Judge Gave Him Probation.

 

Christopher Belter: He Sexually Abused Teenage Girls. The Judge Gave Him Probation.

Christopher Belter was 18 when he pleaded guilty in 2019 to felony and misdemeanor charges involving the sexual abuse of teenage girls at his family’s home in Lewiston, New York.

The charges included third-degree rape and sexual abuse.

In November 2021, Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III sentenced Belter to eight years of probation and required him to register as a sex offender.

No prison.

The decision generated national outrage, particularly because the judge said incarceration would be “inappropriate” and because Belter had already violated the terms of an earlier interim probation arrangement.

Several young women had come forward. Belter pleaded guilty to crimes including rape.

And the consequence still did not include a prison cell.