Unrepentant serial rapist gets 55- to 178-year sentence

Eric Rogers challenged Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Donna Woelpper to cite the laws under which he was being sentenced and her legal authority to sentence him.

Woelpper, however, had no doubts, and sentenced the 23-year-old East Falls man Thursday to 55 to 178 years in prison for raping five Philadelphia women, often beating and robbing them, in 2011 and 2012.

Using phrases associated with the so-called Moorish American sovereign citizen movement, Rogers refused to answer questions, follow court protocol, or sign court documents.

"I don't consent," Rogers said, interrupting Assistant District Attorney Branwen McNabb as she read his police registration requirements as a "sexually violent predator" under Megan's Law if he is ever released.

"Who are you sentencing?" Rogers asked Woelpper, adding, "There's something I don't understand. Does the Constitution stand for me?"

Woelpper did not respond to Rogers' comments. She said he was a "poor candidate for rehabilitation and expressed no remorse."

Rogers was found guilty by Woelpper in February after a nonjury trial in which he testified that the women he raped "wanted it, they wanted me."

The rapes began May 18, 2011, with the attack on a 40-year-old woman on the street in the 200 block of North 52d Street, followed by the rape of a 37-year-old woman on June 14, 2011, in the 1300 block of Cobbs Creek Parkway and, on Sept. 15, 2011, the attack on a 38-year-old woman in the 600 block of North Creighton Street, all three in West Philadelphia.

In 2012, a 16-year-old was raped on Feb. 22 in a house in the 5100 block of West Thompson Street in West Philadelphia and a 17-year-old was raped on March 8 in a house in the 3700 block of Palisades Drive in East Falls.

McNabb said the latter two rapes led to Rogers' arrest on April 19, 2012, because he befriended the teens and lured them to houses where he stayed.

After Rogers' arrest, McNabb continued, Rogers' DNA was submitted to an FBI database and linked to the three 2011 rapes.

McNabb and fellow prosecutor Brandon Jaycox read victim-impact letters from four of the women and the mother of the fifth, describing the emotional toll of the rapes, robberies, and beatings.

"He stole their possessions, he stole their dignity and self-worth and their ability to feel safe as citizens on the streets of Philadelphia," McNabb told the judge.

Defense lawyer John Konchak cited Rogers' age and the fact he had moved through a succession of foster homes since infancy. Konchak did not recommend a sentence but argued, "To say this life is worthless destroys any opportunity to change."