BOSTON, April 19, 2016—A survivor of sexual assault today expressed hope that the trial that led to the offender’s conviction would protect other potential victims – and Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said there was no question that it would.
A Suffolk Superior Court jury on Friday convicted WILLIAM BERRY (D.O.B. 9/2/74) of aggravated rape, aggravated burglary, and breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony. At his sentencing today, Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Riley of the DA’s Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Unit recommended a sentence of 18 to 22 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation. Judge Frank Gaziano imposed a term of 12 to 16 years in prison followed by eight years of probation.
Before Berry’s sentence was imposed, the victim delivered a powerful statement to the court about how the 2014 attack affected her life.
“I had become afraid of things,” she told the court. “I was afraid of having my window open after dark and afraid of men on the street …. Vulgar comments made to me on the street no longer simply rolled off, because I was living in a new reality where those men could actually hurt me.”
She also told the court of her ongoing efforts to recover from the assault, the challenges of the trial, and her thoughts of other potential victims.
“My greatest hope is that the outcome of this trial has made other women safer, so that others don’t have to force themselves to be okay,” she said.
Conley said the woman’s decision to report the assault and testify at trial would do just that.
“Above and beyond helping to protect the physical safety of other potential victims, I hope this survivor’s message reaches others who might be wrestling with the decision to disclose sexual assault and testify at a trial,” Conley said. “No matter who you are, no matter what happened, you can feel safe coming to us for help and we’ll do everything we can to support you.”
Evidence and testimony presented during the three-day trial proved that the victim, then in her mid-20s, and a friend arrived at the victim’s apartment building in the early morning hours of Aug. 24, 2014, and were allowed into the secure building by the victim’s roommate. None of the women saw anyone else in the building’s hallway, and at least one of the women heard the building’s front door shut behind them.
Hours later, at approximately 7:00 a.m., the victim awoke with a stranger in her bed sexually assaulting her, Riley proved. The victim yelled for him to stop, and the man dressed, took a backpack, and fled.
The victim consented to a rape exam at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to collect DNA evidence, from which criminalists at the Boston Police Crime Lab were able to develop a genetic profile of the assailant. That profile was uploaded to the Combined DNA Indexing System – or CODIS – and that November “hit” on a profile belonging to Berry, who had been ordered to submit a DNA sample to the system as the result of a 2009 conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Berry was arrested on Dec. 4, 2014.
Sexual assault can happen to anyone. While the victims of any crime are asked to call 911 in an emergency, the survivors of sexual violence in Suffolk County can also call the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center’s 24-hour hotline at 800-841-8371. The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center provides medical advocacy, legal services, counseling, and other services to victims of rape and sexual assault.
Kerry Kolditz was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Berry was represented by Elliot Levine.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
