Brooklyn man sentenced to 72 years for raping 11-year-old

Gerald Hatcher, 47, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, was sentenced to 72 years in prison yesterday for repeatedly raping his girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter.

Hatcher, the girl and her mother were living together in Bed-Stuy when an anonymous caller reported suspicions of child abuse to the Administration for Children's Services, triggering a police investigation. Hatcher, who was arrested Jan. 30, 2009, was convicted of first-degree rape Aug. 18 for assaulting the child multiple times in the fall of 2008 while her mother was at work.