Serial rapist eligible for parole at age 118

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

A serial rapist will be at least 118 years old before he becomes eligible for parole after a Suffolk Superior Court judge today sentenced him to 35 years behind bars -- on top of a 55-year sentence he is already serving in the Department of Correction.

"It's karma, baby,'' Che Sosa said as he was led out of Judge Christine McEvoy's courtroom in downtown Boston surrounded by a small army of court and correction officers. "It's karma.''

Sosa, 38, was convicted by a jury earlier this week of two counts of aggravated rape for a 1995 break-in in a Jamaica Plain apartment where a 50-year-old woman was attacked. The case was unsolved until 2003 when DNA testing matched Sosa to forensic evidence recovered from the scene.

"Seeing Che Sosa convicted and put behind bars has renewed my spirit in ways I have never expected,'' the woman wrote in a victim impact statement she provided to court. She was in the courtroom, but chose not to speak publicly.

Last year Sosa was convicted in a separate rape case in Norfolk Superior Court and given a sentence that means he must serve 55 years before he becomes eligible for parole. McEvoy said her 35-year sentence must start after the Norfolk time is exhausted.

McEvoy called the attack "horrifying'' and a violation of the sanctity of the victim's home.

Before he was sentenced, Sosa told the judge she reminded him of "Helen of Troy'' and said he was ready to accept whatever punishment she meted out. Sosa, who is currently being held in the super maximum disciplinary unit at Walpole State Prison, also said that he would never quit struggling against authority. He has attacked a correction officer and also once stabbed his lawyer with a makeshift knife.

"I will not break, ever.'' Sosa said. "I feel like I'm God, like I'm everything. You can never kill me.''

• Comment
• Permalink
• Email