Roxborough "Doc" abruptly pleads guilty

TAWFIK NAKISHBENDI, the Roxborough man who went on trial Wednesday for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl at his home and giving drugs and alcohol to other underage girls with whom he had sexual contact, decided that a trial was not in his best interests.

Nakishbendi, 64, accepted a negotiated guilty plea at the end of the first day of his trial. Terms of the plea call for five to 12 years in prison when he is sentenced on Dec. 20, court sources said.

He also agreed to a guilty plea for allegedly sexually assaulting a 28-year-old woman who rented a room in his Wissahickon home last year. The woman, who was intoxicated while being assaulted, found the pictures and called police. At the time, Nakishbendi was out of jail on bail, having been arrested in 2010 for the charges related to the minors.

Common Pleas Judge Gwendolyn Bright sentenced Nakishbendi to three to six in prison for aggravated assault and invasion of privacy of the woman.

The decision to plead was unexpected, given that it took the trial attorneys and Bright three days to pick a jury, and Nakishbendi had rejected a plea deal on Monday, according to court records.

But things never looked good for Nakishbendi, who was known as "Doc" to his young friends, although he was never a doctor.

During her opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Erin O'Brien said nude pictures that the defendant took of 15- and 16-year-old girls would be shown. Five girls, including the one who was allegedly raped, would testify, the prosecutor said.

Nakishbendi regularly invited neighborhood girls to his home for parties fueled by drugs and alcohol, calling his favorite girls "bunnies" and "wifeys," O'Brien said.

"He gave them everything they wanted," she said. "But they were young enough and dumb enough not to know that he wanted something in return."

Nakishbendi's attorney, Daniel McElhatton, tried to downplay O'Brien's allegations by saying the girls' parents often dropped them off at his client's home.