Christopher J. Houghton, a 21 year old Marblehead man who raped and tried to kill his ex-girlfriend in a drunken fit of jealousy back in 2006, will be spending the next 4 to 5 years in prison and ordered to spend another five years on probation under conditions explained below. Failure to follow the conditions will lead to a mandatory 10 year prison sentence.
After hearing from the victim last week after Salem Superior Court Judge David A. Lowy gave Houghton an initial 3 year sentence, Lowy decided to give Houghton a week to withdraw his guilty plea, which he didn't. Houghton's family members wept and the victim's mother sat in the courtroom silently as Houghton accepted the 4 to 5 year term. A letter from a social worker blaming the victim did not sway him, and that he took into account all factors.
Victim blaming did not just come from that social worker. The victim, according to the judge, was ostracized and taunted and was forced to move away from the community where her family, including her mother, had lived for 150 years.
In handing down the punishment, Lowy said he felt his punishment was "appropriate" and that he considered all the complicating issues involved in the case, Houghton's background, the victim and her family.
The judge echoed prosecutor Kate MacDougall in saying that the victim, a teenage girl, may have made some "bad choices."
"It doesn't mean that she should become a victim of rape and almost be killed," the judge said.
Houghton and the victim, who began dating in high school, had a tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship, MacDougall said last week.
He praised the victim, saying she has "gone through a lot" while pointing out she was a "victim of rape, who was almost killed and was ostracized and taunted."
While on probation, Houghton will be monitored by a GPS device. He is to receive mental health and substance abuse treatment and counseling, he must register as a sex offender, not to consume any alcohol, enter and complete a batterers program and have no contact with his accuser.
On the night of Dec. 16, 2006, Houghton's former girlfriend, then 19, went to dinner with a friend, but kept Houghton advised of her whereabouts on her cell phone through text messages, trying to elude Houghton from becoming enraged with jealousy, even though she had told him she wanted to break off their relationship.
She returned to her Atlantic Avenue home around midnight and went to sleep. Later she was awoken by Houghton, who smelled of alcohol, as he was ripping her pajamas off, squeezing her breasts and calling her derogatory names while accusing her of having sexual relations with her date.
He raped her, threw her on the floor, stomped on her, threw her into a closet, took the door off the hinges and tossed it at her as she was curled in a fetal position in the closet. He smashed a mirror in the bathroom, raped her again, bit at her cheeks, and began choking her as he kept telling her, "You did this to yourself."She played dead as he choked her, until she vomited, and he then shoved her head into the broken mirror in the bathroom.
She finally managed to get to the phone and dial 911, before Houghton grabbed the cord out of the phone and threw the phone across the room.Realizing police were on their way, Houghton partially dressed and took off but was stopped by police on Atlantic Avenue.His alcohol blood level was .19, more than twice the legal limit.
Houghton was immediately taken into custody, He was indicted back in January 2007.
The prosecuting attorney was Assistant District Attorney Kate B. MacDougall and the defense attorney was Robert N. Weiner.
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