November 16, 2024. In our blog, “Not Again” we explored the case of Christopher Belter Jr., a young man from Niagara, New York, who avoided prison time after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting four teenage girls from February 2017 until 2018. This case, dubbed the “Lewiston Party House” case, drew national attention and outrage in November 2021, when, despite the horrific nature of his crimes, Belter was sentenced to probation.
To recap, Belter, a minor at the time, hosted parties at his mansion in the town of Lewiston, where, with the help of his mother, stepfather, and neighbor, he would ply young girls with alcohol, marijuana and Adderall, and sexually assault them.
Belter was facing eight years in prison for the crimes, but in 2019, he was initially sentenced to two years of probation, at which time he could apply for youthful offender status to avoid jail time. If Belter violated the probation during the two-year period, his application would be denied, and he would be forced to serve eight years in prison.
As predicted by the Judge who imposed the initial sentence, Belter violated the conditions of probation and should have been sent to jail. However, the new Judge, Matthew Murphy, sentenced Belter to eight years of probation rather than prison time, as he did not want to ruin a young man’s life.
The appalling commentary from the Judge, who prioritized the sexual abuser over his multiple youth victims, and lack of consequences for Belter caused one of his victims to run out of the courtroom to be ill.
This leniency sparked outrage and drew 24-hour, nonstop, national media attention. Then crickets. From the national media at least.
Shattering Glass hopped into action.
As a New York attorney, I met with the clerk of the Administrative Judge for the 8th Judicial District, who directly oversaw Judge Murphy, urging that he be removed from the case before determining Belter’s level of sex offender status. Our members did the same. I also reached out to the New York State Chief Administrative Judge, who was responsible for all New York State Judges, as well as the attorney for one of the victims.
Although Judge Murphy was not removed from the case, two weeks later, he subsequently assigned Belter level 3 sex offender status, the highest level reserved for the most dangerous sex offenders. This was entirely inconsistent with the probation sentence and further evidence that the outrage was warranted.
And the national media said nothing - after non-stop shock and awe a mere two weeks before.
And Belter remains free, without any meaningful consequences for his horrific actions.
We continued to monitor the case, as the charges remained pending against Belter’s mother, stepfather, and neighbor for facilitating the sexual abuse of the four minors.
Tragically, these adults faced limited repercussions, likely due to their privilege, wealth, and influence.
The courts continued to postpone the cases against the adults. While the charges were pending, Belter’s mother passed away under suspicious circumstances. In May 2024, seven years after these victims were raped, the stepfather and neighbor also received probation.
Seven years.
For seven years, the victims were retraumatized, and they never received justice.
Wait, there’s more. The prosecuting attorney overseeing the cases against the adults was a protégé of Judge Matthew Murphy, who recruited the prosecuting attorney to work at the District Attorney’s office.
Yet after the initial outrage at Belter’s probation sentence, the media failed to follow-up on the ongoing trauma to the victims and the fact that no one was held accountable.
The case of Christopher Belter Jr. is beyond tragic. It is a glaring example of privilege, wealth, and misogyny and all that is wrong with society, including how the justice system continues to fail women.
This treatment of women by the courts happens across the country every day. In family court. In domestic violence cases. In discrimination cases. You name it.
The Belter case garnered national attention for 24 hours, and then nothing. Think about all of the cases and the women traumatized in a single day that go unnoticed. And all of the women of color who go missing without anyone hearing about it.
We desperately need systemic change.
The Equal Rights Amendment is the first critical step to making that change. Why? Because without the Equal Rights Amendment, we cannot adequately enforce the laws designed to protect women – Violence Against Women Act, Equal Pay Act, etc. The Equal Rights Amendment will give these laws teeth by enabling meaningful enforcement, and it sends a loud and clear message that discrimination (in any form) will no longer be tolerated.
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