Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin today announced that Christopher Swiridowsky, age 34, was sentenced to a total of 50 years, with 27 to serve for the October 28, 2007 rape of a 26-year old Providence woman. Swiridowsky was found guilty in July by a Providence County Superior Court jury after a five day trial presided over by Superior Court Justice Jeffrey A. Lanphear.
Swiridowsky was sentenced to 40 years with 25 to serve for each of the three counts of first degree sexual assault, sentences to run concurrent. He was also sentenced to 10 years with two to serve for assault with intent to commit sexual assault, sentence to run consecutive. Swiridowsky was ordered to undergo sex offender counseling and subject to lifetime sex offender registration upon release from prison.
During the course of the trial, the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that in the early morning hours on October 28, 2007 Swiridowsky pulled a 26-year old woman into his truck and raped her at gunpoint. After the assault, the defendant pushed the victim naked on to the street and drove away in his truck. The assailant was not known to the victim.
The woman ran to her residence where friends called the Providence Police and Rescue. The victim was treated at Woman and Infants Hospital, where a rape kit was conducted, including a buccal swab, which tested positive for seminal fluids. A DNA profile was obtained and entered into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, which resulted in no match at the time. The victim suffered bruising on her body and face.
On October 25, 2009, the defendant was involved in a hit and run crash in Providence where he struck three individuals, causing one of the individuals to become lodged in the windshield. The defendant abandoned the vehicle with the victim still lodged in the windshield, fled the scene and was later captured by police. In June 2010, Swiridowsky was convicted of leaving the scene of an accident with serious bodily injury. A DNA sample was taken from Swiridowsky upon conviction. The sample was entered into CODIS in January 2011, which resulted in a match to the 2007 sexual assault. A grand jury indicted the defendant for the sexual assault in November 2011.
"DNA technology is increasingly becoming a vital tool for law enforcement in solving crimes, particularly in cases where leads are few and evidence little. The collection and testing of DNA of Christopher Swiridowsky after his conviction in 2010, led to his indictment and conviction and, perhaps most important, justice for his victim," said Attorney General Kilmartin.
Providence Police Detective Doug Allin led the investigation and Assistant Attorney General Daniel Carr Guglielmo and Special Assistant Attorney General Gina Lopes prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.