Cabbie who raped fare sentenced to maximum 1 1/2 years in jail, no SO registration

Franklin County President Judge John R. Walker sentenced Prince Kwaku Boateng, a 38 year old legal alien from Ghana, to serve a 3 to 18 month jail sentence for the rape of a New York fare in a Chambersburg, PA motel last spring. Usually, Judge Walker orders convicted defendants to report to jail immediately, but gave Boateng until noon Monday to report. In Pennsylvania, jail terms are imposed when the maximum sentence is 2 years or lower.

Boateng pleaded guilty to indecent assault and unlawful restraint during a pre-trail conference Thursday. If he had not pleaded guilty, jury selection would have began June 6.

According to court documents, when the cab reached its destination, Boateng told the woman he was tired and didn't want to drive right back to Harrisburg that night. The woman agreed to let him sleep in the motel room if he would pay half the cost of the room. She told police that shortly after 6 a.m. Boateng tried to rape her, pulling her pants off as she struggled to get away. She reached for the phone to call the motel office, according to an affidavit filed with the charges, and Boateng then allegedly grabbed her from behind in a choke hold and told her to "go to sleep."

She continued to struggle and then broke free. Police said several witnesses saw her run from the room and then saw Boateng emerge from the room, pulling up his pants.

He left the motel parking lot in his cab. One witness wrote the taxi's license plate number on his hand and provided that number, along with a description of the man. Another witness snapped a picture of the taxi on his camera phone.

Chambersburg Police put out an all-points bulletin for the cab and its driver. The cab was stopped in Shippensburg a short time later, where Chambersburg Police officers took Boateng into custody.

A previous set of charges were filed back in spring last year, but were dropped, and Boateng was release from the Franklin County Jail. New charges, filed in October, came after the first charges were dropped. Boateng was also ordered to stay away from his victim andserve 2 years or probation under the county's adult sex offender supervision program, but Boateng was not ordered to register as a sex offender, or be evaluated by a sex offender assesment board.