A man accused of sexually assaulting women at golf courses more than 400 miles apart has now been sentenced in one of the alleged attacks, Michigan officials say. Kurt Rillema, a 52-year-old man who in December pleaded no contest to criminal sexual conduct, will now spend 10 to 15 years in prison, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a Jan. 16 news release. An “avid golfer,” Rillema was accused of sexually assaulting a “young woman” working a food stand at Twin Lakes Golf Club in Oakland County in September 1999, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in 2023. He came in through an employee entrance, then violently forced the 22-year-old woman into unwanted sex, the sheriff said. At the time, his identity was unknown. Investigators later learned of a similar case in 2000, when a man raped a 19-year-old Penn State student at knifepoint at a Happy Valley, golf course, according to the Michigan sheriff and Centre Daily Times reporting. DNA evidence confirmed the alleged assaults involved the same individual. As part of the two-state investigation, a DNA technology company helped police conclude the assaults were carried out by one of three brothers, former Centre County First Assistant District Attorney Sean McGraw previously told the Centre Daily Times.
$1.99 WELCOME OFFER CLAIM CRIME Man accused of 2000 rape of Penn State student sentenced for Michigan golf course attack By Mike Stunson January 16, 2025 2:05 PM| 1 Getty Images A man accused of sexually assaulting women at golf courses more than 400 miles apart has now been sentenced in one of the alleged attacks, Michigan officials say. Kurt Rillema, a 52-year-old man who in December pleaded no contest to criminal sexual conduct, will now spend 10 to 15 years in prison, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a Jan. 16 news release. An “avid golfer,” Rillema was accused of sexually assaulting a “young woman” working a food stand at Twin Lakes Golf Club in Oakland County in September 1999, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in 2023. He came in through an employee entrance, then violently forced the 22-year-old woman into unwanted sex, the sheriff said. At the time, his identity was unknown. Investigators later learned of a similar case in 2000, when a man raped a 19-year-old Penn State student at knifepoint at a Happy Valley, golf course, according to the Michigan sheriff and Centre Daily Times reporting. DNA evidence confirmed the alleged assaults involved the same individual. As part of the two-state investigation, a DNA technology company helped police conclude the assaults were carried out by one of three brothers, former Centre County First Assistant District Attorney Sean McGraw previously told the Centre Daily Times. ADVERTISEMENTSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Investigators honed in on Rillema and trailed him in January (2023), collecting a Styrofoam coffee cup he discarded. The DNA taken from the cup matched the DNA collected as part of the rape investigation, McGraw said. Bouchard said Rillema, of West Bloomfield, Michigan, was not previously on the department’s radar and did not have a criminal history before his 2023 arrest. Prosecutors agreed to a plea agreement in the Michigan case after consulting with the victim, McDonald said.
Read more at: https://www.centredaily.com/news/local/crime/article298656333.html#storylink=cpy
Leave a Reply