A man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to raping three women over a 12-year-period.
Philip Mauricio Kantor, 48, of Boyds pleaded guilty to raping three women between 2007 and 2019, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office. A fourth victim also reported being raped by Kantor, but the charge was later dropped.
One victim was having dinner and watching a concert at Clyde’s of Chevy Chase on Wisconsin Avenue around 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2019, when Kantor offered to buy drinks for her and the musicians, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
The victim told authorities that she remembers drinking liquor that Kantor gave her, but doesn’t remember leaving the restaurant.
When the victim woke up, Kantor was on top of her and was raping her in an apartment, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Kantor later helped the victim get her clothes, and went with her to the lobby of the apartment building.
Kantor, who referred to himself as “Phil,” went to a nearby Chipotle restaurant to get a pen, and wrote a phone number on a Chipotle business card, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office. He asked the victim to call him to find out if he found her cellphone.
On Jan. 27, 2019, Kantor and the victim walked from the Chipotle to a nearby Whole Foods, where the victim took a taxi to her home, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office. She later went to a hospital due to injuries from the rape.
Two days later, the victim went to the Montgomery County Family Justice Center, where Special Victims Investigations Division detectives interviewed her.
The victim eventually confirmed that “Phil” was Kantor, because he was listed as a registered sex offender in Maryland’s database, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office. When she saw his photo , she identified him as the man who raped her.
Police later determined that Kantor lived in a Chevy Chase apartment when he registered as a sex offender, and that it’s within walking distance of Clyde’s, Chipotle and Whole Foods.
Surveillance footage from Jan. 26, 2019 showed Kantor leave the building around 9:30 p.m. and get back at 2:42 a.m. on Jan. 27, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office. Footage showed Kantor trying to get the victim into the building, and her trying to push him away.
Police observed footage of Kantor and the victim from four surveillance cameras that showed her intoxicated, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Police searched Kantor’s apartment several days later, finding the victim’s clothing and cellphone. Her phone contained a photo of Kantor forcing himself on her, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Police determined that Kantor’s DNA matched a profile taken from a hospital rape kit. He was arrested Jan. 30, 2019, according to court records.
The other victims came forward to authorities after Kantor’s arrest and the ensuing media coverage, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
One woman said Kantor raped her in May 2007 at his home on Kenilworth Avenue in Garrett Park at the time.
The two had gone to a bar in Washington, D.C., the night before. He introduced himself as “Felipe” while she was intoxicated and gave her his phone number. The victim said she blacked out and when she woke up the next morning, she remembers being sick and being in pain.
Shady Grove Hospital conducted a sexual assault forensic examination at the time, and the State’s Attorney’s Office interviewed her in April 2019.
The third woman told police Kantor raped her at his Chevy Chase apartment in June 2010.
The victim was with a friend Kantor was dating. The victim had a drink at a bar with them, and when she woke up, she remembers Kantor raping her on the bed in his apartment. The friend pushed Kantor off the victim and helped the victim out of the apartment.
The victim told police about the rape in May 2019, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Kantor pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree rape and one count of third-degree sex offense, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17, and is expected to receive a 20-year prison sentence, with a requirement that he register as a sex offender for life.
A fourth victim also came forward following Kantor’s arrest in connection with the January 2019 rape, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office. But Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Bonifant dismissed the charge because “there was not enough evidence,” spokeswoman Lauren DeMarco wrote in an email to Bethesda Beat on Tuesday.
“So he did not plead guilty to it as part of the plea deal,” she wrote.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
