Woman Sentenced To 40 Years To Life In Prison For School Abduction, Sexual Assault
Christina Regusters was scheduled for sentencing Monday.
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Christina Regusters was scheduled for sentencing Monday.
A Philadelphia jury has found Christina Regusters guilty of kidnapping a five-year-old girl from her West Philadelphia kindergarten class, molesting her, then leaving her in an Upper Darby playground.
One juror who helped return the six "guilty" verdicts against kidnapper and child molester Christina Regusters said it was "heartwrenching" to hear testimony from the victim and the victim's mother.
The family of the little girl who was abducted from her West Philadelphia kindergarten class continues to pursue legal action against the Philadelphia school district.
The five-year-old victim was kidnapped from her kindergarten class by a woman impersonating her mother, then taken to a house and abused in unspeakable ways, causing horrific physical injuries.
The five-year-old victim was kidnapped from her West Philadelphia school by a woman posing as her mother, then sexually assaulted.
The prosecution has rested and the defense has begun with a single character witness in the trial of a 21-year-old woman charged in the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl taken from her West Philadelphia school in January of 2013.
An FBI computer expert testified to disturbing evidence found on the computer used under the user names Christina and Guest.
The defendant lived with her aunt in West Philadelphia, near the school, at the time of the kidnapping. Christina Regusters is also charged with molesting the abducted kindergartener.
A Philadelphia Police Department forensic scientist says DNA linked defendant Christina Regusters to clothing worn by a five-year-old kidnap victim.
The five-year-old victim, blindfolded during most of her kidnap ordeal, has testified that she was aware of three people: the disguised woman who kidnapped her, a man, and another woman who identified herself as "China."
Prosecutors presented testimony by an 11-year-old cousin of the defendant who testified Regusters touched her inappropriately years ago, on a couple of occasions.
Prosecution argued unsuccessfully that the statement should be allowed because Regusters had been given Miranda warnings twice previously.
The jury has now seen crime scene photographs of the house and the bedroom where a 5 year old girl was allegedly taken and abused after she was kidnapped from school last year.
Recounting the horror, the prosecution played a long, videotaped recording of a 5-year-old victim describing her abduction from Bryant Elementary School in Upper Darby, a sexual assault and being found abandoned in a playground.
Testimony in the trial of a 21-year-old woman charged with kidnapping a Philadelphia child from her elementary school and then sexually assualting her focused today on the police investigation that led to the defendant.
Imagine this: you're walking to work early one winter morning when it's still dark, and you hear a little voice crying out, "Help! Help! Help!"
Taking the stand in a Justice Center courtroom, a seven-year-old girl testified face to face against her alleged attacker, accused of abducting her from a West Philadelphia elementary classroom in January, 2013, holding her captive, blindfolded under a bed for 19 hours, before she was released wearing only a t-shirt in the freezing darkness.
The mother of a girl kidnapped from her West Philadelphia elementary school and then sexually abused has taken the stand at the trial of the woman accused in the case.
A nine-year-old brother was cleared to testify after the judge determined he understood right from wrong.
Reginald Littlejohn has testified he just started as a substitute teacher in that kindergarten class, and on that busy morning children had just arrived.
Christina Regusters is accused of dressing in Muslim garb, impersonating the girl's mother to remove her from her kindergarten class, then sexually attacking the child.
Opening statements were scheduled for Monday morning in the trial of a 21-year-old woman charged with kidnapping a kindergartener from her West Philadelphia school and then sexually abusing her.
Christina Regusters is accused of donning Muslim garb and veil and posing as the five-year-old's mother to take her from school in January 2013, then sexually assaulting the girl.
Jury selection got underway Monday in the trial of a daycare worker charged with brutally, physically and sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl kidnapped from Bryant Elementary School in Upper Darby in January of 2013.
