Suspect convicted of raping 3 women in Cleveland sentenced to at least 41 years in prison
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A 28-year-old Highland Hills man was sentenced Tuesday morning by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joan Synenberg after being convicted of raping a total of three women in a two-year period.
The judge sentenced Christian Burks to a base prison term of 41 years.
One of Burks’ victims who remained anonymous spoke out in court before he was hauled off to prison.
“I don’t know what twisted things happened to you that caused you to think you could take residence over someone else’s body... that you can lock a woman in the back seat of your car and decide her fate... I am not an object to be used at your disposal. I am a person, I have a name... goals, passion, a career,” she said.
Burks was initially indicted in April 2021.
Cuyahoga County prosecutors said the attacks happened from December 2018 through December 2020 in Cleveland and in several cases the victims thought Burks was their Uber driver.
“Christian Burks is a serial sexual predator,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley, “He will be held accountable for his actions.”
Burks pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, three counts of kidnapping, one count of abduction, theft and aggravated theft.
The first victim, a 20-year-old, was raped at a party on E. 4th Street near Prospect Avenue on Dec. 9, 2018.
On May 24, 2020, a 23-year-old woman and her male friend ordered an Uber outside a bar on W. 6th Street near Johnson Court.
Cleveland police said both got into Burks’ vehicle, thinking it was their Uber ride.
Burks allegedly drove them to a gas station on Lorain Avenue on Fulton Road, and when the man exited to purchase water, Burks drove away with the victim and stole her credit cards, which he allegedly used to make several purchases.
On May 27, 2020, Burks was accused of arguing with a 24-year-old woman later identified as his girlfriend, near W. 38th Street and Vine Court, and forcing her into his vehicle.
The victim tried to get out of his car near the Eddy Road exit ramp by I-90, but he allegedly grabbed her by the neck and dragged her back into his car.
A 21-year-old woman told police on Nov. 15, 2020, she was at a bar near W. 6th Street and Lakeside Avenue when she became separated from her friends, and Burks sexually assaulted her multiple times in his vehicle.
On Dec. 14, 2020, a 22-year-old woman and her friend ordered an Uber outside a bar on W. 6th Street near Johnson Court.
The victim ended up getting in the car by herself, and police said Burks sexually assaulted her in another vehicle and drove her to an East Cleveland hotel but fled before police arrived.
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