The medical school graduate who admitted to snapping the necks of at least 100 moving and breathing babies born in Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s abortion clinic pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the deaths of two late-term babies.
Steven Massof, 49, of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty on Thursday to two counts of third-degree murder, murder conspiracy and other charges.
Massof testified to a grand jury that he regularly delivered babies whose mothers were induced, snipped the umbilical cords and then cut the babies’ spinal cords, as it was “standard procedure.”
When asked how often this happened, Massof answered:
“More times than I really care to remember. I would have to say every week it would happen to at least 50 percent of the patients.”
“Although Massof was not as cavalier [as Gosnell] about what he did, he admitted that there were about 100 instances in which he severed the spinal cord after seeing a breath or some sign of life,” states the grand jury report, which was released in January.
Massof testified that he thought all of those babies were larger than 24 weeks.
When Massof left the clinic in 2008, employee Lynda Williams “took over the job of cutting
baby’s necks when Gosnell was not there,” the grand jury report states. Williams is due in court next week for a status hearing in her murder case
Massof is the third employee of Gosnell’s horrifying Women’s Medical Society to plead out in the past week. There are 10 defendants in the case. Andrea Moton and Sherry West pleaded guilty to various murder charges Oct. 27.
Massof's two murder convictions could bring a life term, but he'll likely get a reduced sentence for his plea and potential cooperation.
Gosnell, 70, is charged with killing seven babies and a woman who died after a botched abortion at his Women's Medical Center. He has pleaded not guilty.
