Acting District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty, Jr. announced that Cornell Long, 29, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns to one count of Rape in the First Degree and one count of Burglary in the First Degree. Today was scheduled to be the first day of jury selection for the trial.

On July 23, 2015, at around 3:30 a.m., Long broke into the victim’s apartment through her living room window. He took a knife off of her kitchen counter and entered her bedroom, where threatened to “slit the throat” of his victim. Long proceeded to rape the victim over the course of several hours.

Later, he fractured the victim’s nose and caused multiple bodily injuries. The victim fled to the store where she worked, and her manager called 911. The defendant was apprehended a short time later.

DA Flaherty commended the bravery of the survivor: “This case exemplifies precisely why there aren’t ‘victims’ of sexual assault; there are survivors. The survivor in this case demonstrated incredible courage and poise, withstanding a brutal and horrific attack in her own apartment, and then having the wherewithal to flee to safety. By finding the courage not only to survive the attack, but to come forward and hold the rapist accountable, she has taken the power back.”

Flaherty also praised the work of the patrol officers in this case: “The rapid response and quick thinking of patrol Officers Mark Tripp and Timothy O’Neill ensured that this defendant was quickly apprehended, and even more importantly, preserved all of the physical evidence that was critical to securing a conviction.”

Long will be sentenced on August 23, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. by Justice Burns.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan D. Haggerty is prosecuting the case.