3 Phila. men charged in gang-rape of teen over 3 days

Posted: October 05, 2012

ATEEN WAS KIDNAPPED by three men in Southwest Philadelphia last Friday and taken to an Upper Darby apartment where she was repeatedly raped over three days before escaping, police said on Thursday.

"It's a heinous crime and a horrific time frame," said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

The 15-year-old was walking to her father's house on Upland Street near 66th when three men in a dark Nissan Altima grabbed her about 11:15 p.m., Chitwood said.

The men kept the girl's head down and drove around for about 30 minutes before taking her to an apartment, which police later discovered was on Long Lane near Baltimore Avenue, in Upper Darby, Chitwood said.

Once there, the men took turns raping and sodomizing the girl, police said. They took her clothes and forced her to wear a T-shirt and basketball shorts, police said.

Sunday morning, while one of the men was out, one was sleeping and the other was in another part of the apartment, the girl escaped and ran into the middle of Long Lane, where she flagged down a family that was driving by, according to police.

Chitwood said the family allowed the girl to call her father and drove her to him.

Her father, who had called police early Saturday to report his daughter missing, took the girl to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The hospital then reported the incident to Philadelphia police, who turned the case over to Upper Darby authorities.

The victim showed police where she had been held captive and identified two of her captors through a photo lineup. The third was identified by his conspirators, police said.

Police identified the alleged kidnappers as Alfred Kulah, 35, and Mortiman Kesselly, 41, both of Upper Darby, and Eddie Johnson, 37, of Philadelphia.

All three have been charged with kidnapping, rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.


Contact Stephanie Farr at farrs@phillynews.com or 215-854-4225. Follow her on Twitter @FarFarrAway. Read her blog at philly.com/dailydelco.

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