Man who killed rape suspect is sentenced to 5 years

GOSHEN, N.Y. – A New York man convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting a rape suspect he was trying to turn in to police has been sentenced to five years in prison.

David Carlson, of Sparrowbush, has claimed he fired his gun in self-defence in October 2013 as he held Norris Acosta-Sanchez at gunpoint so a neighbour could call police.

Acosta-Sanchez had been charged with the statutory rape of a teenage girl and had been staying at a summer cabin by Carlson’s home near the Pennsylvania border.

The 45-year-old Carlson was sentenced Tuesday, four months after being found guilty of first-degree manslaughter.

Carlson’s supporters say he’s more a victim than a vigilante, but prosecutors said he was the aggressor.