Ciskiewic faces life in prison
Mar. 9—LOCKPORT — Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III called his sentence "rare" in a non-homicide case.
But in a Monday afternoon sentencing hearing, he also told Michael Ciskiewic that if anyone desired to serve a sentence of life behind bars, it was him.
"I hope you serve a life sentence," Murphy told Ciskiewic as he sentenced him to a term of 12 years to life in prison for his guilty plea to abducting, beating and raping a woman, then chaining her in the basement of his Monroe Avenue home in June 2019.
First Assistant District Attorney Doreen Hoffmann told Murphy, "This case is every woman's worst nightmare." The judge agreed with her.
"He has earned every minute of his potential life sentence," Hoffmann said.
Falls Police investigators said Ciskiewic, 27, abducted his victim at gunpoint on June 9, 2019 and dragged her back to his home, where he chained her to a cannonball in his basement. He then moved her to an upstairs room and chained her to a bed to rape her.
Over the course of the next 12 hours, detectives said Ciskiewic raped and repeatedly beat the woman, breaking bones in both her face and her hand.
The victim, who has since relocated to an undisclosed location away from the Falls, watched the sentencing hearing live on an internet stream. Her sister, who was in the courtroom, read a victim impact statement crafted by the victim's aunt.
"Her whole life has changed at the hands of a man who, even with remorse, cannot return (her) to the life she was building," Lucia Hoyt told Murphy. "(Her) life has been totally disrupted. She has been forced to pick up and relocate to an undisclosed location. She had to move from her house where the nightmare took place."
Ciskiewic's defense attorney, Michael Deal, told Murphy that his client had expressed remorse to him for the victim's suffering. But Murphy said Ciskiewic's attempted to withdraw his guilty plea in the case, and other delaying tactics, showed he had not accepted responsibility for the crime.
Deal confirmed that Ciskiewic will appeal his conviction. He told Murphy he had advised his client not to speak at the hearing.
When Murphy asked Ciskiewic if he had anything to say, he replied, "No sir."
Concerned family members said when they were unable to reach the victim during her 12-hour ordeal, they contacted Falls police. Officers arrived at the victim's home and used the department's bloodhound to track her to Ciskiewic's home.
Police surrounded the home and eventually stormed inside, but Ciskiewic wasn't there. But they found and rescued the victim.
A licensed massage therapist, the victim suffered such severe broken bones in her hand that she is now barely able to work. She also suffered broken bones in her face that continue to cause her pain.
Her family said, "There are many times when (her) PTSD and anxiety are so bad she barricades herself in her house for days."
After finding the victim, members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force located Ciskiewic a day later, hiding in a field near 24th Street and Allen Avenue.
Ciskiewic pleaded guilty to a single count of predatory sexual assault. He was originally charged with first-degree kidnapping, rape, assault, criminal sexual act, predatory sexual assault, menacing and burglary.
"This sentence assures the public that this dangerous predator will be incarcerated or under supervision for the rest of his life," Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman said.
