A Rochester man was sentenced Friday to more than six years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Bashir Abdikadir Kassim, 30, will receive credit for 135 days served on the 80-month sentence. In exchange for the plea, one count each of first-degree criminal sexual conduct-armed with dangerous weapon; first-degree burglary-assault; and kidnapping, all felonies, were dismissed. Another charge of first-degree criminal complaint-fear of bodily harm was reduced to the third-degree charge.
The charges stem from an incident June 22, when a woman called police to report a domestic assault. The criminal complaint says the woman arrived at her locked apartment that night about 10:25 p.m. and discovered Kassim inside. She told investigators she didn't know how he'd gained entry, since he didn't have a key to the apartment.
The woman said Kassim brandished a stun gun, ordered her upstairs to a bedroom, forced her to undress, then took photographs of her with his cellphone and threatened to post the images on the Internet. Eventually, she escaped and ran to a friend's to call police.
Officers spoke with him the next day, the complaint says. Kassim denied the assault and said he accidentally dropped his phone. He also denied owning a stun gun.
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One week later, she reported to police that she saw Kassim in her parking lot and found some tools under her bed. A tire iron, which was found, fit perfectly into a pry mark found next to the dead bolt on her front door, according to the complaint.
On July 2, investigators were granted a search warrant to process Kassim's cellphone, which revealed numerous pornographic photos of a woman obviously in distress and crying, the report says.
On July 8, investigators spoke again with the woman. Through an interpreter, she said that in addition to the photos being taken against her will, she was also raped by Kassim, the complaint says. The victim said she was threatened with death if she didn't do as he said.
