Bridgeport, CT rapist sentenced to 30 years for rapes and burglaries

Stephen White, 34 plead guilty Friday, June 20 to two counts each of aggravated 1st degree sexual assault and 1st degree burglary for the rapes of two women after breaking into their homes. The Bridgeport, CT resident was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the attacks, and Superior Court Judge George Thim said that these are crimes which cry out for severe punishment. State's Attorney Jonathan Benedict, which recommended the 30 year sentence, said that "at least society can feel safe that Mr. White will be off the streets for an extended period of time."

According to police on Aug. 3, 1999, were sent to investigate a report of a hysterical woman at a home on McKinley Avenue in Stratford. The 44-year-old woman, naked and suffering from facial injuries, was taken to Bridgeport Hospital.

The prosecutor said the woman told police she was sleeping when a man forced his way into her home. The man hit her in the face with a vase, then raped her.

In the other case involving White, Benedict said that on June 9, 2004, police were dispatched to investigate a forced entry and rape at a Union Avenue house. The 35-year-old woman told police she was sleeping when a man forced his way into her home. She said the intruder pointed a knife at her, according to the prosecutor. The assailant placed a pillow over the woman's face and began sucking her right toes.

Benedict said the woman cried out and the man stuffed his shirt into her mouth and threatened to kill her if she made any more noise. He then raped her.

The prosecutor said the woman's mother, who was in the bedroom next door, was awakened by the noise from her daughter's room and saw the intruder raping her daughter. He said she grabbed a clothes iron and hit the man in the head with it. The man cut the mother on the hand and fled, Benedict said.

White was arrested by Stratford police for burglary of a home there. After sentencing to prison, White was required to take a DNA sample, and matches were found with DNA taken from both victims. Assistant Public Defender Jonathan Demirjian said his client was using PCP daily when the crimes were committed, and that White accepts that he will be imprisoned until his 60s.