WYOMING, Mich. — A Wyoming man is accused in the abduction and rape of a 16-year-old girl, who was targeted as she walked home along a busy road in early June.
The girl did not know her accused assailant, Wyoming Police Capt. James Maguffee said.
“He probably targeted this victim,’’ Maguffee said. “I don’t know that it was completely random.’’
The defendant, 38-year-old Chol Thiek Deng, is being held without bond in the Kent County Jail. He had been living in an apartment complex less than two miles from where the incident occurred.
He’s charged with kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct during a felony. Both offenses are punishable by up to life in prison. Deng also is charged with criminal sexual conduct – second degree, a 15-year felony.
Deng recently had his case bound over to Kent County Circuit Court.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said in most sexual assaults, the victim knows the assailant. That was not the case in the June 6 incident in Wyoming.
“Stranger on stranger cases are fairly rare when you look at the grand totality of sexual assaults here in Kent County,’’ he said. “And that’s also backed-up nationwide in terms of the statistics.
“In general, the majority of any sort of sexual assaults are done by friends, acquaintances, family members,’’ Becker said. “Someone that knows the victim.’’
The girl was walking home on the sidewalk along Clyde Park Avenue SW north of 44th Street during the evening when Deng approached and asked if she wanted a ride, according to a probable cause affidavit. She declined.
“He then followed her and approached her again and told her to get in and it is alright,’’ Detective Margaret McKinnon wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “Deng then brought her behind a closed business and started kissing on her.’’
The girl “told him ‘no’ multiple times,’’ McKinnon wrote.
The teen was then forced into the back seat and raped, court documents show.
“No doubt it’s unsettling any time you have a report of a sexual assault,’’ Macguffee said. “But certainly, the fact that a stranger is at play here is even more concerning.’’
Macguffee said the victim and her family notified police. The girl was able to identify the suspect’s vehicle.
“We were able to get there and see the vehicle that was pointed out to us,’’ Macguffee said. “I think it’s really important that people do what this victim did and call us right away and get us involved.’’
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