Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Man who raped woman in LOVE park sentenced to 13 to 40 years in prison

Quindell Campbell, 27, raped a woman in LOVE Park, attacking her as she was on her way to work in January 2020.

A pedestrian carries an umbrella in Love Park amid heavy rain as the remnants of Hurricane Zeta move across Center City Philadelphia on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020.
A pedestrian carries an umbrella in Love Park amid heavy rain as the remnants of Hurricane Zeta move across Center City Philadelphia on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer

A Philadelphia man who raped a woman in LOVE Park, attacking her as she was on her way to work on a January morning in 2020, was sentenced Wednesday to 13 to 40 years in state prison.

Quindell Campbell, 27, of Olney, had pleaded guilty to rape and related crimes and admitted assaulting the then-41-year-old woman in the iconic plaza after punching her and knocking her to the ground.

In court Wednesday, the woman said she remained traumatized by the attack. She said she quit her job at a Center City hotel and has avoided that part of the city ever since.

“It’s like a bruise that has a Band-Aid you keep ripping off. It doesn’t heal,” she said, tearfully. “I just hope to God that justice is served. It hurts so bad and I’m just tired of feeling this way. I don’t feel safe anymore.”

In handing down the sentence, Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Ehrlich said he did not believe that Campbell had taken responsibility for his actions.

He noted that Campbell, who had no previous criminal record, ran from police after the assault, cut his hair in a bid to avoid detection, and did internet searches on how to alter his fingerprints.

“I don’t know if you’ve come to terms with or come clean with yourself about what happened that night,” Ehrlich said.

Assistant District Attorney Asheeka Desai, in seeking a lengthy prison sentence, played surveillance footage in which Campbell was seen following the victim closely across the plaza at about 5:20 a.m. on Jan. 25, 2020, before hitting her and knocking her to the ground.

As the video footage played in the courtroom, Campbell dropped his face into his hands.

Desai said Campbell had made a “calculated decision” to rape the woman in an assault that lasted 14 minutes.

“Despite her screams. Despite her resistance,” said Desai. “[She] was violated in every possible way imaginable. ... [She] has to live with this for the remainder of her life.”

Campbell’s lawyer, Michael McDermott, said Campbell was remorseful and had committed an “incredibly dumb, foolish crime.”

“He’s been sitting in his own hell that he created,” said McDermott.

After Ehrlich handed down the sentence, Campbell said goodbye to his mother, fiancée and other relatives before being led away by sheriff’s officers.

At a news conference shortly after the sentencing, District Attorney Larry Krasner praised his staff and Philadelphia police for their work on the case and also thanked the victim for her courage in coming forward. .

“People need to know they can travel safely,” he said. “That if someone attacks them, that person will be found and will face appropriate, just incarceration and long-term consequences.”