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Ex-JBLM service member sentenced in rape case

Man gets more than 11 years for home invasion, assault

By Peter Talbot, The News Tribune (Tacoma) (TNS)
Published: December 28, 2022, 7:14pm

TACOMA—A man formerly stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord was sentenced this month to 11 years to life in prison for breaking into a stranger’s apartment in Lakewood in 2018 and raping her while her children slept.

Derante Rashawn Cook was sentenced Dec. 22 to at least 11 years and four months in prison for the home invasion and sexual assault. Once that time is served, it will be up to a review board to decide whether Cook should be released from custody. He could spend his life behind bars.

If Cook is released, he will be required to register as a sex offender, and he will be under community supervision for life. Records state he had no prior criminal convictions.

The defendant was stationed at JBLM as recently as 2020, according to court records. Sometime that year, he moved to Texas and was stationed at Fort Hood, a military base that has faced scrutiny in recent years. There, Cook, 27, was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife, which required the man’s DNA to be taken. That’s what led Washington investigators to match Cook to DNA collected from the Lakewood rape kit.

A spokesperson for JBLM was not able to confirm Cook’s military rank Wednesday or how long the man was stationed there.

After being extradited to Pierce County, Cook’s case proceeded to a jury trial in October in Superior Court. The trial took seven days, and once lawyers made their closing arguments Oct. 24, jurors deliberated for about a day before finding Cook guilty of first-degree rape and first-degree burglary with sexual motivation.

Prosecuting attorneys said the Feb. 17, 2018, rape made it difficult for the victim to interact with other people, and she eventually broke the lease on the apartment where she was attacked because she didn’t feel safe, according to court filings.

In most cases of rape, the attacker knows the person they are targeting. According to statistics from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 91.9 percent of women who are victims of rape reported being assaulted by an intimate partner or acquaintance.

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