Kenneth Downing has pled guilty to four counts of rape in the first degree and one count of assault with sexual motivation in the second degree in relation to a 19-year-old serial rape case in Pullman. The plea deal was offered with support of the victims.
According to a press release from the Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office, Downing faces up to 213-2183 months to life in prison. If he is released, he will have to register as a sex offender and will on life-time supervision with the department of corrections, and the survivors will have a life-time protection order. Whitman County Judge Gary Libey has set a sentencing hearing for August 19th.
The case stems from a series of rapes that occurred almost 20 years ago. In November of 2003, a woman reported to the Pullman Police Department that she was assaulted at gunpoint in her home. In March of 2004, two other Pullman women reported that when they got home early one morning there was a man with a gun inside their residence. One of the women was assaulted and one was tied up. Pullman police conducted an investigation into both cases, but no suspect was identified and the case went cold.
Nearly 18 years later, the department pursued Forensic Genetic Genealogy, and a profile was developed that led to Kenneth Downing. Downing’s DNA was a confirmed match to the crime scene and he was arrested on March 17th of this year in Spokane. (Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office)
