Rapist pleads guilty to Pullman crimes
Jul. 9—The 47-year-old suspect in a Pullman serial rape case could be sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to multiple rape charges Friday in Whitman County Superior Court.
Kenneth Downing, who was arrested in March in connection to rape cases in 2003 and 2004, pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree rape and one count of second-degree assault with sexual motivation.
According to the Whitman County Prosecutor's Office, Downing faces 213-283 months to life in prison. If released from prison, he will have to register as a sex offender and be on lifetime supervision with the Department of Corrections. The survivors will have a lifetime protection order.
His sentencing date is scheduled for Aug. 19.
Downing's first victim reported being raped three times at gunpoint in November 2003 at her Pullman home. In March 2004, two other women reported finding a man in their home with a gun. They reported that the man raped one woman and tied up the other one.
No suspects were identified at the time, but DNA samples of the assailant in both cases contained the same DNA profile. A John Doe warrant was issued for the unknown man.
For nearly 20 years, there were no matches. Then, in 2020, the police department's Special Investigations Unit submitted the old DNA samples collected from a comforter and two sexual assault kits for analysis by a forensic genetic genealogist, who determined Downing's DNA was related to the suspect.
After obtaining a DNA sample from Downing, the Spokane Police Department arrested him while working at a construction site in Spokane at the request of the Pullman Police Department.
Downing pleaded not guilty to 13 charges in March, including four counts of first-degree rape, one count of indecent liberties, two counts of first-degree burglary, three counts of second-degree assault and three counts of unlawful imprisonment with sexual motivation.
"The survivors' remarkable courage and fortitude made this outcome possible," Chief Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau said in a statement. "I am grateful for their support of this resolution which will spare them having to recount their assaults at trial. I will argue for the maximum penalty allowed by law under his guilty plea."
