photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

A Eudora man was ordered to stand trial in Douglas County District Court after a woman testified on Wednesday that he raped her while his wife slept nearby.

The man, Derek Sean Conner, 33, is facing one felony count of rape of a 26-year-old woman who was incapable of consent, according to charging documents. The charge stems from an incident in the early-morning hours of Jan. 23.

During a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the woman told the court that she was drinking at Conner’s residence the night of Jan. 22 at a party with about 15 to 20 people. After most of the guests left, the woman’s husband was also ready to leave, but when he asked the woman to go with him she declined after Conner’s wife asked her to stay, she testified.

The woman said that early in the night she had agreed to a bet in jest that the last person awake that night would win $1,000, and at some point during the night the married couple proposed that the woman make a sex tape with them. She told them she didn’t want to “see them doing that” and Conner laughed and said, “What if there was some money in it for you?”

Around 3 or 4 in the morning she said she and Conner were the only two still awake and were in the basement at the bar while Conner’s wife was asleep on a couch across the room.

She said she was texting a co-worker about something when Conner started to grope her from behind. She said he was saying things like “You’re so sexy. Tell me that you want me,” to which she responded that he had a wife and she was also married. Conner stopped briefly but then he continued groping her, she testified.

“I remember saying why me, why not go ask your wife,” the woman said. “He said, ‘She won’t do it for me.'”

The woman said that she didn’t yell or scream about Conner’s actions because she didn’t want to make a scene. She said she isn’t clear what exactly happened next, just that she remembers Conner being behind her and penetrating her.

The woman said they were found by Conner’s wife in a bedroom basement. Conner was sitting in a chair while the woman was on the floor. A fight then erupted between Conner and his wife, the woman said.

“I don’t remember how we got into the bedroom. I just remember she and Derek started fighting and doors were coming off their hinges,” the woman said.

The woman said she retreated back to the bar in the basement’s main room and listened while the married couple argued and crashed through the house. She said it was about 45 minutes before the police arrived and arrested Conner. It wasn’t clear who called the police.

Conner was charged with two misdemeanor counts of domestic battery and one misdemeanor count of criminal damage. The damage was to a door frame, a picture frame and a bathroom door, according to charging documents. The charges were dismissed in June due to “insufficient evidence,” a week before Conner was scheduled for a plea hearing, according to court records.

Eudora Police Officer Jacey Jacobs testified that she arrived around 11 a.m. in response to a domestic disturbance and while on the scene she encountered the female houseguest on the floor in the basement sitting against a wall. Jacobs said the woman was very drunk and couldn’t provide coherent answers, and Jacobs asked a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy, Breanna Pence, to give the woman a ride home, after Conner’s wife asked the woman to be removed.

Pence testified that while the woman was in her patrol car, she said that she “didn’t feel right” and, in light of the circumstances and how angry Conner’s wife was, she believed she had been raped. Pence said Jacobs then took the woman to LMH Health for a rape exam. The woman said she texted her husband on the way to the hospital and told him she thought she had been raped.

Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden asked the woman why she didn’t report the rape immediately when police arrived and what she meant when she said she “didn’t feel right.”

“My vagina didn’t feel like a normal one. As a woman, you kind of know when something has been inside of you,” the woman responded.

Jacobs said she questioned the woman further at the hospital but that the woman was crying and was still not making a lot of sense when answering questions. Jacobs said she ended the interview when a doctor came in to continue the exam.

The woman said that since the incident, Conner tried to FaceTime her, and Conner’s mother also tried to contact her. Conner was charged with a misdemeanor count of violation of a protection order in July for trying to contact the woman, according to charging documents. He was released after posting a $5,000 surety bond.

As previously reported by the Journal-World, Conner was arrested on the rape charge on June 14 and was released on a $75,000 surety bond two days later. Conner is represented by defense attorneys Christopher Joseph and Dionne Scherff.

Judge Stacey Donovan concluded that there was probable cause to order Conner to stand trial, and she set a trial date for Feb. 27, 2023.

The Journal-World has requested Conner’s booking photo from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.