A Vancouver man admitted Wednesday to raping an 18-year-old man, whom he didn’t know, in a burnt-out section of a Hazel Dell motel and then robbing the victim of his clothes before running away.
Devin A. Brown, 20, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to second-degree rape and first-degree robbery as part of a plea deal presented Wednesday to Judge Rich Melnick. Brown is scheduled to appear in court March 7 to schedule a sentencing date. He faces up to 12 years in prison but could be kept in prison for life if the state Indeterminate Sentence Review Board determines he still poses a danger to society.
During the Dec. 17 incident, Brown approached the victim, who was sitting outside a Wal-Mart store, 9000 N.E. Highway 99, and began a conversation, according to court documents. He then forced the victim to walk south to a burnt-out abandoned building at the Value Motel, 708 N.E. 78th St., where Brown raped him, said Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu.
Brown told the victim that he had a knife and gun to intimidate him into cooperating, court documents say.
Once inside the abandoned building, Brown punched the victim in the face several times, knocking him to the ground. Brown threatened to strangle him and then raped him, court documents say. After the rape, Brown kicked the victim in the head and left the scene with the victim’s clothes, phone and backpack, according to court documents.
“The victim was completely naked and had to resort to grabbing an empty cardboard box laying nearby to cover himself,” Vu said.
Wearing the box, the victim flagged down a sheriff’s deputy inside his patrol vehicle. Sheriff’s deputies apprehended Brown within minutes, Vu said. They found Brown hiding behind a dumpster near the Value Motel, according to court documents.
The victim suffered multiple injuries from the attack, none of which were life-threatening. When interviewed by sheriff’s investigators, Brown admitted to the rape, court documents say. He said he took the victim’s clothes in order to have more time to escape the authorities.
Brown originally was charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape, first-degree robbery and methamphetamine possession. Vu reduced the charges as part of the plea deal negotiated with Brown’s attorney, Gregg Schile. The plea deal spares the victim the ordeal of testifying during a trial, Vu said.
