Buffalo man sentenced for kidnapping teenage victim

Submitted by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announced 21-year-old Abdiwahab Sabtow of Buffalo was sentenced yesterday afternoon before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan to five years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.

On Nov. 20, 2020, at approximately 7 p.m., the victim was abducted by the defendant after she entered a vehicle with Sabtow, who was 18 years old at the time, and two juvenile offenders. The defendants drove the victim to Potomac Park and another location in the City of Buffalo, where they picked up two additional co-defendants, Bryce J. Baker and Tyrell Patterson-Scott.

Sabtow and his co-defendants drove the victim to another location on Dart Street in the City of Buffalo. The victim was held against her will in a garage for several hours before she was able to escape. A Good Samaritan saw the victim walking without shoes and gave her shoes. Another Good Samaritan drove the victim to a location where she was able to get help. The victim was transported to Oishei Children’s Hospital.

On May 16, 2023, a jury found Sabtow guilty of one count of kidnapping in the second degree (class “B” violent felony). Jurors founded the defendant guilty of the charge after more than two days of deliberation following a six-day trial. The jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision on the 32 remaining counts of the indictment against the defendant, which were dismissed yesterday.

A final order of protection was issued on behalf of the victim, which remains in effect until 2039.

Tyrell Patterson-Scott, 20, of Buffalo admitted to engaging in sexual conduct with the same victim by forcible compulsion at a location on the west side of the City of Buffalo in November 2020. The defendant, who was 18 years old at the time of the crime, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree (class “B” violent felony) on Aug. 23, 2022. Patterson-Scott was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of post-release supervision in December 2022.

Bryce J. Baker, 21, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty to one count of rape in the first degree (class “B” violent felony) and one count of attempted rape in the first degree (class “C” violent felony) on Oct. 20, 2022. Baker admitted that he attempted to rape the same victim in November 2020. The defendant, who was 18 years old at the time of the crime, also pleaded guilty to a separate crime for raping a different victim, who was less than 13 years old, at a location in the City of Buffalo in September 2020. Baker was also sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of post-release supervision in December 2022.

A third co-defendant, a juvenile offender, who was 14 years old at the time of the crime, pleaded guilty for his involvement in the kidnapping of the victim in November 2020. The juvenile offender pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping in the second degree (class “B” violent felony) before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, a designated Youth Part judge, on Aug. 17, 2022. The case was transferred to Family Court for adjudication due to his age.

The case against the fourth co-defendant, a juvenile offender who was 13 years old at the time of the crime, was transferred to Family Court due to his age.

DA Flynn commends Det. John Caruso and Det. Jeff Banes of the Buffalo Police Department special victims unit, sexual assault nurse examiners at Oishei Children’s Hospital, and Confidential Criminal Investigator Mike Nigrelli of the Erie County DA’s Office for their work in these investigations.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief Cathleen M. Roemer of the Buffalo City Court bureau and Assistant District Attorney Hilarie L. Henry of the special victims/domestic violence bureau.