DENVER — A former University of Colorado Denver student was sentenced to nine years in prison for kidnapping and raping a fellow student after a Halloween party in 2015.
John D. Kennedy, 23, was found guilty in June one one count of second degree kidnapping-victim of a sexual offense, one count of sexual assault-victim physically helpless, one count of sexual assault-victim incapable of appraising nature of her conduct and one count of unlawful sexual contact.
On Nov. 1, 2015, Kennedy sexually assaulted the then-23-year-old victim while she was unconscious.
After waiting until other students left a shared hallway, Kennedy carried the victim from an apartment where she had been placed for safety by friends to his apartment.
A friend of the victim found the woman and Kennedy in the suspect’s apartment. At the time, she was unaware she had been moved or had been sexually assaulted.
Surveillance footage showed Kennedy carrying the victim down the hallway. Police were called and the woman was taken to Denver Health Medical Center for an examination.
DNA evidence, witness statements and a confession established Kennedy had kidnapped and sexually assaulted the woman.