Ex-teacher gets prison for raping girl over several years

A former Philadelphia public-school teacher was sentenced to 31 to 63 years in prison for repeatedly raping a girl who emigrated from Liberia to be with his family, prosecutors said.

Sumo Dukulah, 40, who taught math and science to seventh- and eighth-grade students, was convicted in April by a jury of raping the girl from when she was 10 until she was 16.

Dukulah threatened to send the girl back to Liberia if she told anyone, prosecutors said. She eventually revealed her secret to friends at her high school. The friends reported the situation to a school counselor, who then reported the case to authorities. - Robert Moran