‘Rittenhouse rapist’ gets up to 44 years in prison

Milton Garcia, who had been dubbed the “RittenhouseRapist” by the media, will be spending at least the next two decades behind bars, a judge decided Monday.

Garcia, the 28-year-old undocumented immigrant from Honduras, was sentenced to 22 to 44 years in state prison by Judge Diana Anhalt Monday afternoon.

In November, Garcia entered a no-contest plea to charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, kidnapping and burglary, stemming from a June 21, 2014 incident in Rittenhouse Square.

According to court documents, a 26-year-old woman was walking home to her apartment on the 1900 block of Spruce Street when Garcia approached her from behind and grabbed her buttocks. When the woman tried to escape his grasp, he reportedly grabbed her by the back of the beck and pushed her inside her apartment building, where he forced her to open her apartment door, threw her to the floor and sexually assaulted her.

“Milton Garcia does not belong on Philadelphia’s streets and, as a result of today’s sentencing, he won’t be anymore,” Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said in a news release.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Assistant District Attorney Kelly Harrell of my office’s Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit for her hard work.”

Harrell’s investigation revealed that shortly after Garcia left the victim’s apartment that night, he returned a second time, whereupon she pleaded with him to take her personal belongings and leave her alone.

Instead, he sexually assaulted her again, and then stole her apartment keys and cell phone. The victim was later able to activate an old cell phone and call 911.