Christopher A. Rivera, 38, of Middletown Borough, was sentenced to 60 to 120 years in state prison by Judge Jeffrey Conrad on Friday after a jury found him guilty following a three-day trial in October.
The jury convicted Rivera of two counts each of robbery, rape by forcible compulsion, and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion, as well as four counts of sexual assault.
Rivera held the two victims at gunpoint inside the Calm Spa in the Penn Town Shopping Center, located in the 1200 block of Lancaster Road in Penn Township, on the evening of Aug. 27, 2024, prosecutors said.
He first demanded money, taking more than $800 from the business before forcing both women into a massage room where he raped them while pointing a pellet gun at their heads.
Surveillance footage showed Rivera pointing the weapon — which closely resembled a semi-automatic handgun — and forcing the victims into the room before fleeing out a rear door as Northern Lancaster County Regional Police officers entered the business.
An officer responding shortly after 8 p.m. shot Rivera as he ignored commands and produced the pellet gun while attempting to escape, authorities said.
District Attorney Heather Adams later ruled the officer’s use of deadly force legally justified.
Assistant District Attorney Fritz Haverstick prosecuted the case. Lancaster County Detective Brent Shultz filed the charges.
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