Black male who sexually abused autistic teen will serve only 13.5 years

Original Story

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) -The man who sexually assaulted an autistic teenager was sentenced to prison on Wednesday.

Israel Wingo, 67, will serve 13.5 years in prison for sexually assaulting the autistic 17-year-old girl on the west side of Cleveland

During his sentencing, Wingo insisted he is not a sexual predator. He will be required to register as a Tier II Sexual Offender

Wingo then offered an apology to his victim, but she refused to look at him

"She's not the same, I mean she doesn't communicate any more," the victim's mother said. "She's crawled back into that shell that I worked so hard to get her out of."

19 Action News has learned that Wingo is the father of the victim's friend

"Shame on you, she trusted you," scolded Prosecutor Frankie Goldberg.

The crime came to light when Cleveland Rec worker William Morrison saw Wingo kissing the victim in front of Roberto Clemente Park. Morrison used his cell phone to take a picture of Wingo's truck and license. Police investigated and found nude pictures of the girl and kiddie porn

Wingo had previously entered a plea of guilty to six counts of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor, one count of endangering children, one count of gross sexual imposition, one count of possessing criminal tools and one count of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material or performance.