A Midwood man convicted in February of raping a 13-year-old girl in the laundry room of her Gravesend apartment building two years ago was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison on April 7, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Bennett Castello, a registered sex offender who attacked a stranger similarly 17 years ago, followed the victim into her apartment building and threatened her with scissors on the afternoon of April 29, 2013, according to court testimony. Castello then forced the teenager into the building’s laundry room, where he raped her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone, according to District Attorney Ken Thompson, who said Castello’s heinous crime stole the teenager’s innocence.
“This young girl’s innocence has been lost and her life forever changed as a result of this vicious attack,” said Thompson, adding that the lengthy punishment is appropriate for the atrocious act. “This defendant will now likely spend the rest of his life behind bars, where he belongs.”
Castello was convicted in February of two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree sexual abuse, and one count of first-degree burglary as a sexually motivated felony.
