Lawrencian ordered to stand trial in rape case

A judge on Monday ordered a 30-year-old Lawrence man to stand trial for the August 2004 rape of a 59-year-old woman at a southwest Lawrence apartment complex.

During a preliminary hearing in Douglas County District Court, the victim testified she’d left her door unlocked Aug. 30, 2004, at Clinton Place, 2125 Clinton Parkway, and awoke the next morning to find a stranger in her bed. She said the man raped her twice but that she didn’t resist.

Lawrence Police later identified the suspect through a neighborhood canvass, and Detective Amy Jumisko testified Monday that a swab taken from the woman in a rape exam contained the man’s DNA.

Murphy ordered the man to stand trial for charges including rape, sodomy and aggravated burglary, and scheduled his next court date for Dec. 1.

Murphy also ordered the man to stand trial Monday for having sex with a 14-year-old girl in October 2004 in an unrelated matter. The intercourse was voluntary, but children under 16 aren’t able to consent to sex under Kansas law.