NC rape survivor ‘done with asking why' after attacker sentenced to prison
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A jury convicted Chano Wiggins of first-degree rape and multiple other charges.
- Judge Timothy Wilson sentenced Wiggins to a minimum of 41 years in prison.
- Police rescued the severely beaten victim after she texted a friend to call 911.
Editor’s note: This story contains reporting about a sexual assault, a topic that will be disturbing to some readers.
A year and a half after a Raleigh man held his former partner hostage in her Durham home as he violently assaulted her, a judge handed down a sentence that will likely see him die in prison.
Chano Chavinchi Wiggins, 48, was convicted by a jury last week of first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree forcible sex offense, breaking and entering and assault inflicting serious injury, court records show. He was arrested in September 2024, The News & Observer previously reported.
Wiggins, who had previously been convicted of assaulting the woman, met with her Aug. 31, 2024, at her Durham home under the guise of discussing childcare, search warrants state. Over the next 48 hours, he repeatedly beat and raped her, threatening to kill her if she called police, The N&O previously reported.
By the time police eventually found the victim on Sept. 2, 2024, she’d been beaten so severely that her eyes were swollen shut. The N&O is not naming her to protect her privacy.
Though the woman had tried to use her Ring app and her phone to call 911, officers who initially responded to the scene left after finding no “information that would constitute exigent circumstances” permitting them to enter the home, The Durham Police Department told The N&O last year. Wiggins had held his hand over the woman’s mouth so she couldn’t cry out to police or open the front door, according to search warrants.
Police eventually rescued the woman when she texted a friend to call 911 on Sept. 2 while Wiggins was outside grilling, court documents state. Wiggins briefly barricaded himself inside before surrendering to police, and the woman was taken to the hospital for treatment.
‘Now it’s time to heal,’ survivor says
It’s not clear why Wiggins attacked the woman, though court records state he briefly considered claiming self-defense — a defense his attorney withdrew last week before his trial began.
Wiggins had previously been accused of raping, kidnapping and beating a woman and preventing her from calling 911 in April 2018 in Apex, court records show. However, those charges were dismissed by prosecutors for “insufficient evidence” in October 2019.
Superior Court Judge Timothy Wilson sentenced Wiggins on Monday to a minimum of 41 years and a maximum of 55 years and three months in prison, with 242 days’ credit for time served, according to court records. If he serves only the minimum sentence, he will be almost 90 years old when he is released.
The survivor of his crimes told The N&O on Tuesday she considers that justice well-served.
“I will never understand why he did this to me, or how he could live with himself knowing I cared for him and his family and I didn’t deserve this torture and on top of the harsh beating [raping] me,” she wrote in an email. “I’m done with asking myself why. ... Now it’s time to heal, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.”
This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 11:46 AM with the headline "NC rape survivor ‘done with asking why' after attacker sentenced to prison."
