MEDIA, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Law enforcement officials are trying to correct what is now an international narrative, which claims riders on SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line stood by and watched while a man raped a woman last week in Upper Darby.
“There is a narrative out there that people sat on the El train and watched this transpire and took videos for their own gratification. That is simply not true. It did not happen,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said on Thursday.
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He said authorities do have video from one person on the train. Stollsteimer hinted that person may have been the person who called police, though he wouldn’t confirm.
In addition, surveillance video shows the train was mostly empty, with a handful of people getting on and off. Stollsteimer said it’s likely those riders didn’t realize what was happening.
“But what we would like is they’d be willing to come forward and are not afraid,” he said, “because this narrative has gotten out there they can get prosecuted for coming forward.”
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That idea comes from published quotes by law enforcement officials, saying someone could possibly face charges if they recorded the rape for their own gratification. Stollsteimer assured there is no statute that says someone is breaking the law if they don’t stop a crime, especially a violent crime.
He said the video from the train is all the evidence they need to make a case, but witnesses would help the prosecution.
Fiston Ngoy, 35, is charged with rape, indecent assault and related charges for the attack.
An unrelated yet similar assault took place at the same 69th Street Station. The same officer who intervened in the Oct. 13 rape also stopped a rape Wednesday night. Police say an arrest was made.