WEST CHESTER — A former Philadelphia man who was accused of raping a Parkesburg teenager in his automobile after meeting her through a borough youth center has been acquitted on all charges.
On Friday, a Common Pleas Court found Ameer Sutton-Best not guilty of rape, sexual assault, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, institutional sexual assault by a sports official and related counts. He had been held in Chester County Prison since his arrest in the summer of 2022. In addition to being accused of assaulting the girl, he allegedly solicited other youths to send him sexually explicit photos by text.
Ameer Sutton-Best (Courtesy of Chester County District Attorney)
The panel deliberated for seven hours before returning to Judge Alita Rovito’s courtroom with its verdict, which marked a blow to the prosecution. Not only were the crimes that he was charged with significant, but Sutton-Best’s own criminal history was considered alarming.
Sutton-Best’s arrest in October 2022 led to the news that he had been allowed to serve as a volunteer at The Point, a popular youth spot in Parkesburg, despite having been convicted of an infamous murder when he was a teenager living in Philadelphia.
Sutton-Best, 33, of Parkersburg had been incarcerated in the state prison at Pine Grove for more than 12 years after he was sentenced to prison by a Philadelphia judge in October 2009 for the killing of a Philadelphia man who was set upon by a group of teenagers skipping school in the city in an unprovoked attack as he walked along a subway platform near City Hall.
Sutton-Best, or Ameer Leon Best as he was then known, was convicted at trial in Common Pleas Court of third-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of 36-year-old Sean Conroy, a store manager at a Starbucks Coffee shop in the city who grew up in Delaware County. Sutton-Best was 17 years old at the time of the crime.
He was released in 2021. The jury, as selected, did not hear about that past criminal history.
Defense attorney Melissa McCafferty, who represented Sutton-Best during the five-day long trial, said her client was exonerated because the prosecution’s case did not hold up under scrutiny.
“The prosecution alleged that for all three of the minor complainants, (Sutton-Best) initiated contact through some form of telecommunication —whether text or smart phone app,” she wrote in an e-mail Saturday. But “there is no corroboration for any of the allegations beyond the say-so of three, financially-motivated minors.” Each has filed civil lawsuits against The Point, she said.
“None of the minors ever went to an adult or to law enforcement” to report the alleged crimes when they occurred,” McCafferty said. “A director at the Point heard an ugly rumor, was familiar with the parties, and as a mandated reporter, contacted childline, who contacted law enforcement. Law enforcement then had to go in search of them.
“After 2 1/2 days of intensive testimony there were so many more unanswered questions than we started with, that the prosecution needed to, but hadn’t answered or accounted to the jury for,” she said. “And if the jury has more questions than answers, even after so many hours of witness testimony, then that’s the reasonable doubt they need in order to find (her client) not guilty.
District Attorney Christopher deBarrena-Sarobe, praised the teenager for their testimony.
“It was incredibly brave for these victims to come forward and testify at trial,” he said in a statement Monday. “We are disappointed for them, but we also respect the jury’s verdict.”
Although the verdict clears Sutton-Best of the charges from Parkesburg, he was not set free after the jury came back. He has been held on a detainer from the state Parole Board stemming from his earlier conviction in the murder case.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
