Ex-Elwyn aide gets prison stint for brutal rape of client
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A former Elwyn residential counselor was sentenced Monday to 7 to 15 years in a state prison for raping a 38-year-old mentally disabled person under his care in 2016.
Johnson Nyema Porka will also have to register as a sexual offender for life under the aggravated sentence handed down by Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Cappelli.
Porka was convicted on charges of raping a mentally disabled person, sexual assault and institutional sexual assault following a jury trial in May. The jury deliberated for about an hour and a half before convicting on all three counts for an assault that took place in the overnight hours of March 5-6, 2016.
Porka’s former coworker, Emanuel Kparya, testified at trial that he discovered Porka in bed with the victim at about 12:30 a.m. while doing his rounds.
Kparya said the door to the victim’s room was nearly closed and angled with an open bathroom door just inside the entrance in such a way that he could not see in from the hallway. He claimed he had not left the doors in that position when he last checked on the victim about an hour earlier.
Kparya said he entered the victim’s room through an adjoining bathroom connected to a neighboring bedroom and spied Porka on the victim’s bed with his pants slightly down, holding her legs up in the air under the knees.
Kparya said he left the room and Porka chased him down the hall, begging him not to say anything. Kparya said he left the grounds for about 15 minutes and found Porka in the parking lot waiting for his return.
Porka, 62, of the 300 block of Poplar Street in Darby Borough, again begged Kparya not to turn him in, claiming “the devil made him do it.” Kparya did report the incident to a supervisor later in the shift and the victim was examined at a nearby hospital.
Janet Constance Huecker, a unit director at Elwyn, testified that Porka was not assigned to the victim’s room that night and had no reason to be in there.
Coleen Hunt, a former sexual assault examiner, said an examination of the vagina revealed two interior lacerations and deep bruising. Hunt said the victim also had a bruise around her right knee that could be consistent with being held in the position Kparya described, as well as some dried secretions on her thighs.
Regina Kozero, a forensic DNA scientist with the Pennsylvania State Police, said she had tested swabs from the victim against samples from Porka but was unable to positively identify the defendant’s DNA on the victim. She said swabs taken from Porka’s genitals indicated the presence of another person’s DNA, but it could not be positively identified as belonging to the victim.
The victim was diagnosed with severe autism and profound mental retardation at a young age. She is effectively “non-verbal,” though her father said she does know a few words. He estimated her mental age to be about that of a 3-year-old.
“Because (she) does not communicate well, she is a prime target for this man,” the father said at sentencing. “Because she simply is unable to tell anyone what happened, he overpowered her and took advantage of her.”
The father said his family believed they were doing the right thing by placing the victim into Elwyn, where she would be safe and cared for, but now cannot bring themselves to place her in another such facility. The family now has to juggle schedules to ensure someone is always at home with her.
The victim also has trouble sleeping and curls up into a fetal position on her stomach when she does sleep, the father said, and is fearful of being out among other people.
“I always wonder, was this the only time this had happened, was this the only young woman he had raped?” the father said. “Or was it just the only time he was caught?”
Defense attorney Colin Hueston, who did not represent Porka at trial, moved for a new trial and argued the weight of the evidence did not go against his client. Cappelli denied the motion.
Hueston also argued there were “strange circumstances” about the trial, including differences with then-defense counsel Kevin Wray about taking a plea deal. Wray has since been suspended from practicing law.
Assistant District Attorney Alan Borowsky argued that whatever circumstances might have existed in the lead-up to trial, the evidence presented was damning and undeniable.
Borowsky said Porka took advantage of the trust placed in him by Elwyn staff and the clients under his care to rape what was, for all intents and purposes, a 3-year-old child.
“To say it’s appalling is the understatement of the century,” he said. “If it’s not as evil as cold-blooded murder, it’s pretty close.”
Porka also gave a lengthy and impassioned plea indicating he had been raised to respect human beings and denying he ever had sex with the victim, who he referred to as an “innocent.”
Porka, a Liberian who emigrated to the United States in 2000, indicated he did not testify at trial on the advice of his former counsel, but indicated the jury should have heard from both sides.
Borowsky asked to respond, but the judge indicated there was no need before imposing the aggravated sentence Borowsky had sought.