Jury took about 2 hours to find Coatesville resident guilty of Ash Park assault
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times
Desean M. Thompson, 26, was convicted of rape Wednesday night by a Chester County Court jury.
A Chester County jury convicted a 26-year-old Coatesville man Wednesday night of rape in connection with an early-morning attack on Aug. 6, 2012, in Ash Park.
After slightly more than two hours of deliberations after a three-day trial, the panel found Desean M. Thompson guilty of multiple counts of crimes that included rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and aggravated indecent assault.
“The victim in this case endured a horrifying ordeal, and has shown tremendous strength and courage in its aftermath,” said Assistant District Attorney Andrea Cardamone. “I am pleased with the jury’s verdict. “This case involved a horrific crime, and they had a difficult job.”
According to the criminal complaint, Thompson grabbed the victim by the neck at knifepoint and forced her into a wooded area of Ash Park, where he sexually assaulted her in multiple ways for nearly two hours. Once the victim managed to escape, she called 9-1-1 and went to Lancaster General Hospital, where a sexual assault investigation kit was performed, the complaint said.
Thompson, who was represented by Assistant Public Defender Loreen M. Kemps, did not take the stand but maintained that the sex was consensual. He will be sentenced at a later date by Chester County Court Judge Jacqueline C. Cody after he undergoes a Megan’s Law evaluation to determine whether he meets the legal definition of a sexually violent predator. Cardamone said the maximum penalty for a single count of rape is up to 20 years in prison.
