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Serial rapist to serve 22 years for West Springfield attacks
Ali Ghaffar, 23, pleaded guilty to dozens of charges related to raping six women in seven separate incidents, according to court documents.
A 23-year-old man will serve 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to raping six “vulnerable” women in West Springfield in 2021 and 2022, prosecutors said.
Ali Ghaffar, of West Springfield, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to dozens of charges including aggravated rape, kidnapping assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over, according to court records in Hampden Superior Court.
In seven separate incidents, Ghaffar raped or attempted to rape six women before leaving them stranded, mostly near Bearhole Reservoir, according to the Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni.
Prosecutors alleged that Ghaffar would pick up women in the area with the promise of drugs, a ride home, or while pretending to be an Uber driver. Another woman claimed she was pushed into his vehicle, while another was a prostitute he raped after picking her up, prosecutors said. One woman had used heroin earlier that day, while another was suffering after effects of a stroke, according to court documents.
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“The identified survivors also showed great courage and resiliency in standing up and speaking out,” Gulluni said in a statement. “These acts of strength likely prevented other women from suffering harm at the hands of the suspect.”
Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 36 to 40 years in prison, but his defense attorney noted he had no prior convictions and pleaded guilty to the charges.
Ghaffar will serve his sentence in Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, the state’s only maximum security prison, with credit for the nearly three years he’s already served awaiting trial.
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