Dr. Tawfik Nakishbendi, 61, is charged with the rape of a 16-year-old girl, and authorities say he may be charged in other cases.
Nahishbendi is a retired doctor who, for the past few years, has lived alone in the 200 block of Lemonte Street in Roxborough. Neighbors say he recently began throwing wild parties where teenagers seemed to be the only invited guests.
"He had a lot of young teenagers here and there, a lot of young girls and guys over, mostly weekends and sometimes on the weeknights," said neighbor Trisha O'Brien.
A teenager who attended the parties, who asked not to be identified, said that Dr. Nakishbendi would offer them alcohol and cash. At first, the teenager says, they thought Nakishbendi was just a lonely man who needed company. That all changed, the teen said, when Nakishbendi would start making sexual remarks and innuendo, ultimately leading to the alleged rape.
Neighbor Florence Swift remembers seeing cars with young teens going back and forth from Nakishbendi's property and, the night before Nakishbendi was arrested, a young woman was screaming at him.
"A woman was out there screaming at him for some reason or the other," Swift said.
Last Thursday night, detectives from the Special Victims Unit took Nakishbendi into custody and combed the property for evidence as neighbors looked on in shock.
"It's disgusting, it's pretty scary," O'Brien said. "We have all these young kids around the neighborhood, young girls so it's pretty scary, you can't trust anybody these days."
Nakishbendi has been charged with rape of a minor and related offenses, but police think there are other victims out there.
Anyone with information can call Philadelphia Police at 215-686-TIPS.
