Philadelphia man who raped a woman on a SEPTA train sentenced to 7 to 14 years in prison

A Philadelphia man pleaded guilty Thursday to raping a woman on a SEPTA subway train in front of passengers in 2021 and was sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison.

Fiston Ngoy, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of raping an unconscious person, a spokesperson for the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office said. Ngoy will serve a minimum of seven years before being eligible for parole.

Ngoy’s lawyer, Mary Elizabeth Welch, declined to comment after the hearing.

Ngoy assaulted the woman on Oct. 13, 2021 on a subway train on the Market-Frankford Line as the train was pulling into Upper Darby’s 69th Street station.

The crime quickly drew international attention after law enforcement officials initially said witnesses stood by and did nothing and that some bystanders filmed the rape without calling authorities. Authorities later backtracked and said it was likely other passengers did not know what was happening. They also said an off-duty SEPTA employee called 911.

The woman said she had gone to a bar in West Philadelphia and had three beers before catching a SEPTA train. She said she continued to drink beer as she boarded the wrong train and headed eastbound on the Market-Frankford Line, in the opposite direction of where she wanted to go.

Ngoy sat next to her and started talking to her, she said. In a recorded statement, Ngoy told police he’d seen the woman before and said she initiated a sexual encounter.

But surveillance footage showed the woman repeatedly pushing Ngoy away and trying to fight him off for 40 minutes before the sexual assault, according to court records.

Ngoy was arrested inside the train car at the 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby.