Child molester Anthony Bermudes-Droz gets 17-40 years

MEDIA COURTHOUSE – A Chester man has been sentenced to 17 to 40 years in prison for the heinous rape of a 7-year-old girl in 2021, as described by Chester Police Commissioner Steven Gretsky.

Anthony Bermudes-Droz, 35, entered a public plea before Common Pleas Court Judge G. Michael Green in January to charges of rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child and creation of child pornography, all of which are first-degree felonies.

Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp said the state is seeking a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for the first three counts and is asking for a total sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison with five years probation.

Kemp explained the facts in court:

In August 2021, a 14-year-old watched a disturbing video of her 7-year-old cousin being sexually abused on her phone and showed the video to adults.

An investigation by Chester police Officer Jose Alvarez and Delaware County Detective Sgt. James Simpkins, both members of the county’s child abuse unit, uncovered nine additional videos showing Bermudes-Droz sexually abusing the child “in every way imaginable,” Kemp said.

Bermudes-Droz also burned the child victim in a video with a blunt he was smoking, Kemp added.

The girl was taken to a hospital, where she told Alvarez, her school resource officer, everything that had happened and disclosed the abuse she had suffered. A rape test revealed injuries to her genitals, Kemp said, and the girl later gave a forensic interview that identified Bermudes-Droz as her attacker.

Bermudes-Droz was arrested on August 31, 2021 and bail was set at $2 million cash. He has been in custody since then.

Although Bermudes-Droz waived a preliminary hearing and pleaded guilty, sparing the victim the trauma of testifying, Kemp said she still suffered from the trauma of his actions and the 14-year-old, like other adults, suffered from the trauma of seeing the video.

Kemp noted that even Alvarez had to step down from his job briefly because of the cruelty of the abuse, but is now more involved in such cases and was unable to attend the sentencing hearing because he received special training in investigating child abuse cases.

Alvarez left a message saying he was glad the victim felt she could trust him and that he was able to help her, Kemp said.

However, Kemp pointed out that if that trust had not existed and the cousin had not happened to come across the first video, the abuse would likely have continued.

Bermudes-Droz had slapped the child and warned her not to tell anyone, an order she followed. Only when questioned about the abuse did she courageously reveal what she had suffered, Kemp said, revealing damage that had transcended generations.

The victim’s father told the judge that Bermudes-Droz’s crimes were “overwhelming” and left scars on him, his family and even his friends. He thanked God that Bermudes-Droz could no longer harm anyone and called him inhuman. Her grandfather echoed both sentiments.

“You’re a monster, man, you’re a predator,” said the grandfather. “I’m glad he’s off the streets anymore and that the court will do what it’s supposed to do because justice has been done.”

Defense attorney Tracie Burns called for a 15-year prison sentence, arguing that this would serve the purpose of punishment while allowing sufficient time for treatment.

Burns said Bermudes-Droz did everything he could to accept responsibility after his arrest. Although extensive tests and reports showed he was competent to stand trial, he was found to have some cognitive and mental disabilities, as well as substance abuse problems.

Bermudes-Droz also apologized to the family. He then began to say that he was drunk in the videos and that he could be seen sleeping in one of them, but Burns interrupted him and advised him to limit himself to the apology.

In addition to the prison sentence, Bermudes-Droz was sentenced to 10 years of sex offender probation and was required to register as a sex offender for life under Megan’s Law.

He was also ordered to provide a DNA sample to state police and to have no contact with the victim or unsupervised contact with minors.

Bermudes-Droz is not entitled to early release, but the time he has already served has been credited to him.