12-Year Sentenced Levied Against DC Man For 2006 Rape Of Pregnant Woman In Anacostia

WASHINGTON, DC — Christopher Grooms, a 36-year-old District man, was sentenced in on Tuesday to 12 years in prison for a 2006 home invasion and sexual assault of a pregnant woman in Anacostia, according to a release.

Last December, Grooms pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for attempted first-degree sexual abuse while armed, with aggravating circumstances.

Around 2:30 a.m., on March 25, 2006, Grooms knocked on the door of someone he knew in the 1300 block of Morris Road, Southeast, according to court documents. The door was answered by a woman who was seven months pregnant at the time. Grooms pushed his way into the apartment and grabbed the woman's hair, all the while pointing a gun at her, according to authorities.

Grooms then forced the victim into a bedroom, where a 4-year-old child was sleeping in a bunk bed, threatened to kill the woman and then raped her, according to court documents. After taking the victim's cellphone, Grooms then left.

The victim contacted police, filed a report and was given a sexual assault examination on the same day. A 2007 DNA test based on the sample obtained from the rape kit did not definitively identify Grooms as the assailant, according to court documents. But, due to advances in DNA technology, the sample was retested in 2020 and the test pointed to Grooms being a strong statistical match as the attacker in the case.

Last September, Grooms was charged with first-degree sexual abuse while armed, with aggravating circumstances. He had already been convicted in 2012 for an attempted first-degree sexual abuse for a sexual assault that occurred in 2008.

In addition to the 12-year sentence, Grooms will face 10 years of supervised release and have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.