Germantown Man Sentenced To At Least 37 Years In Prison For Gunpoint Rape In North Phila.
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Done in by DNA, a 38-year-old Germantown man has been sentenced to 37-and-half to 65 years in prison for a 1998 gunpoint rape in North Philadelphia.
Calvin Gadson was identified and charged in 2010 based on a DNA match from the 1998 rape and a sample taken following another conviction.
Prosecutor Kelly Harrell says defendant Calvin Gadson and another man, who has never been identified, targeted a young couple walking late one night in February of 1998.
"A 15 year old girl was walking with her 17-year-old boyfriend and they were approached by this defendant and another male, forced into Reyburn park at gunpoint, where the men took turns raping her while the other held the boyfriend down with a gun pressed to the back of his head."
Harrell says the couple bravely testified at trial, to the horror of that night, and the aftermath.
She talked of the shame of not doing more to resist and he the guilt of not being able to do more to protect her that night.
Harrell says this courageous couple later married and are now raising four children.
Despite the DNA and conviction, Gadson still maintains his innocence.
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