A 23-year-old Hartford CT man was sentenced to 22 years in prison and eight years of special parole after pleading guilty as part of a plea agreement to first-degree sexual assault, two counts of first-degree robbery and attempted burglary.
Christopher Mankins admitted robbing the same Heath Street grocery store twice in three days, and admitted that he sexually assaulted a young girl.
Mankins said he was on a PCP at the time of the crimes and apologized for his conduct.
Mankins is a convicted sex offender in Massachusetts.
Mankins held up the cashier at La Sirena Grocery 2 with a knife on March 13, 2013, and fled with $3,000 in cash from the register. He returned three days later, recognized the cashier, and figured she would be an easy mark again.
He ran to where the clerk was standing, and she tried jumping the counter to escape, but she fell on the floor, she later told police, according to an arrest warrant. Mankins dragged her around the store and grabbed her breasts as she tried to get away, she told police.
Mankins waved a knife toward her, and she lifted her hand to protect herself, she said. She suffered a laceration to her palm. He took several hundred dollars from the register and fled, according to the warrant.
Mankins admitted to both robberies but denied groping the woman, according to the warrant.
Mankins also admitted to sexually assaulting a young girl in December 2012 and again in January 2013. The girl disclosed the abuse to a teacher, who reported it to the CT Department of Children and Families.
