The other brother

On Sept. 16, Jayson Chambers, 32, was arrested and charged with the rape of his 11-year-old goddaughter and her teenage sister.

One month earlier, authorities had charged his twin brother, Jerry Chambers, with the murder of 3-year-old Porchia Bennett.

The glare of the media spotlight focused on Jerry’s house of horrors at 1705 S. Fifth St., leaving his brother’s troubles in the shadows on the 600 block of Dickinson Street.

But the justice system will be focused on Jayson Chambers when his rape trial begins July 19.

According to an affidavit, Special Victims Unit detectives said that while Chambers’ goddaughter was living under his roof, he had “forcible vaginal intercourse with her against her will.” Chambers allegedly threatened to kill the victim and anyone else she told about the one-time incident, the charges stated.

The affidavit also charges that Chambers sexually assaulted and raped the victim’s 14-year-old sister on two separate occasions when she visited for the weekend. The teen told police the abuse occurred while she and Chambers had slept in the same bed, according to the statement.

Chambers’ Germantown-based attorney, Daniel Connor, said he could not talk about the case due to the upcoming trial.

Assistant District Attorney Melissa Cornibe did not return calls for comment.

Chambers’ goddaughter lived at his home from 2000 to 2003, said the defendant’s 58-year-old godmother, who didn’t want her name in print because she said she’s received death threats from the Bennett and Chambers families.

The victim’s mother agreed to Chambers’ offer to care for her child because of cramped living quarters at the mother’s home — where she was living with several children in one room, according to the godmother.

So the victim moved in with Chambers and his sons Jayshawn, 9, and Jayshine, 10, she said.

“He treated her like he treated his two sons. They all had clothes and he fed them and everything. At Christmas, a secret Santa came and brought them gifts and everything,” said the godmother.

The woman said she was surprised to learn of the rape accusations against her godson, whom, along with Jerry, she took in at age 16.

“As far as this, I don’t know what to think. I never saw anything like it,” she said. “They were very, very close. [Jayson] treated her just like he treated his children. I never saw any indication that there was anything improper.

“She was crazy about Jayson. She was like a bigger sister to the boys, too. Everything seemed perfectly normal to me.”

The godmother and her daughter welcomed the twins into their house in Chester because the teenage siblings had “problems at home,” she said.

When Jayson and Jerry turned 19, they remained in Chester while their godmother and her daughter moved to South Philly.

In June 1996, Jayson Chambers pleaded guilty and was convicted of two counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from two separate cases in Chester, said Delaware County prosecutor Thomas Laurie. Chambers also was charged with indecent assault and criminal attempt, but not convicted of those charges, Laurie said.

The defendant was sentenced to two to five years in prison for each case, said Laurie. He served a total of five years, according to a prison spokesperson.

While Jayson was in prison, Jerry’s best friend was murdered in Chester, said the godmother.

Upon Jayson’s release, the brothers moved to South Philly. They rented separate apartments in the same building on the 600 block of Dickinson Street, where the alleged rape and sexual assaults occurred.

When Jerry lost his job and got evicted, he and Jayson moved to 1705 S. Fifth St. — where Porchia Bennett later was killed.

Jayson lived on the second floor with his sons and goddaughter, Jerry had the rear ground-floor apartment and their godmother lived in a front ground-floor unit, she said.

The last time the godmother saw Jayson was Aug. 17 — the day Bennett’s body was found wedged between a mattress and bedroom wall inside the apartment Jerry shared with Porchia’s aunt, 18-year-old Candice Geiger.

Jayson Chambers, who is being held on $300,000 bail, is charged with two counts of rape, statutory sexual assault, indecent exposure, unlawful contact with a minor, false imprisonment and related offenses.