PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A man accused of sexually assaulting two women last November in Point Breeze pleaded guilty to the crimes in court on Thursday.
Abdul Ford, 23, admitted he was the one who attacked two women on separate nights as they walked home. The first woman he followed after she left a bar at 22nd and Christian Streets. She noticed a man following her and was trying to dodge him, but he caught up with her blocks from her apartment and groped her.
The next night, Ford followed another woman and attacked her near 20th and Federal Streets, strangling and pushing her to the ground before assaulting her.
The prosecutor read aloud a letter from the first woman, who called the experience traumatic, writing that Ford ‘shattered (her) like glass,’ but added that glass can be glued together and that’s what she is trying to do.
“The women you have harmed are now the ones who hold all of the power,” read part of the letter.
Ford was silent in court, but his attorney said the 23-year-old suffers from severe mental illness and needs to be medicated. He also noted that Ford suffered abuse “in many forms” as a child.
Ford pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent assault, strangulation, and sex assault charges. Judge Zachary Shaffer accepted the deal, sentencing him to 10 to 20 years behind bars, plus a few years of probation.
Shaffer said he was a bit hesitant to accept the deal, but noted that the survivors needed a chance to move forward and heal.