Hawthorne Man Sentenced To 185 Years For Long Beach Rape

LONG BEACH, CA -- A Hawthorne man convicted of breaking into a woman's Long Beach apartment and sexually assaulting her in September 2014 was sentenced Thursday to 185 years to life in state prison.

Superior Court Judge Judith L. Meyer denied the defense's motion for a new trial for Deitrick Paul Richmond, 30, who was found guilty last Nov. 10 of three counts of forcible rape, two counts of forcible oral copulation and one count each of first-degree burglary with a person present, first-degree residential robbery and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime.

Jurors also found true allegations that he used a knife during the attack and that he committed a burglary with the intent to commit a sex crime.

The victim reported that she woke up Sept. 7, 2014, to hear a floorboard creaking and saw Richmond with a knife near her bed, according to Deputy District Attorney Kelly Kelley.

The woman subsequently identified Richmond as her assailant, and DNA evidence linked him to the attack, the prosecutor said.

Police said the intruder entered the victim's home in the area of Falcon Avenue and East Ocean Boulevard through an open window.

He took two designer purses, a clutch, a make-up bag, a designer pair of sunglasses and an iPhone from the home after the attack, according to the deputy district attorney.

Richmond -- who claimed he had consensual sex with the woman after meeting her as she walked down the street -- was arrested in Hawthorne three days later.

-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock