Serial rapist sentenced to life in prison

PULLMAN – A serial rapist convicted in a number of 19-year-old Pullman rape cases has been sentenced to life in prison.

Kenneth Downing was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole for at least 214 months, during a Friday, Aug. 19, hearing before Whitman County Superior Court Judge Gary Libey.

Downing was convicted of four counts of first-degree rape and second-degree assault with sexual motivation, records show.

If released from prison, Downing will have to register as a sex offender, records show. He will be on life-time supervision with the department of corrections. Survivors have life time protection orders, as well.

“I hope today marks a turning point in the lives of the survivors; the monster known as Kenneth Downing is now where he belongs,” Whitman County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dan LeBeau said. “We now have justice for the survivors and peace for the community.”

The sentencing culminates a rape case that began in November of 2003.

In that case, a woman reported to the Pullman Police Department that she was raped at gunpoint in her home, records show.

Two other Pullman women also reported that when they got home early one morning, there was a man in their home with a gun in March of 2004, records show. He raped one woman and tied up the other.

Despite police investigations into the cases, they went cold until earlier this year.

With funding from the State Attorney General’s Office, Pullman police pursued forensic genetic geneaology during the 18 year period. A profile and confirmed DNA match led to the arrest of Downing on March 17 in Spokane.

“The arrest would not have been possible without the intense focus and efforts of the entire Pullman Police Department, and diligent work by Officers Jake Opgenorth, Greg Umbright and Aaron Breshears,” LeBeau said in an Aug. 19 press release. “Further, collaborative efforts from the Washington State Patrol Crime laboratory, Spokane Police Department, Indentifinders Internation LLC, the FBI and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office helped bring long overdue justice to the survivors of these assaults.”

During the Aug. 19 hearing, LeBeau read a statement by one of the women who was assaulted.

In the statement, she said she had been afraid to go anywhere since the assault.

The two other women spoke over a zoom call, both recounting how those nights had changed their lives. All three women asked for justice to put Downing in jail for life.

One victim stated how the crime had ruined her friendship, because he made her tie up her friend.

Two out of Downing’s five kids, his nephew and his wife were present at the hearing.

Downing’s wife, Katrina Downing, said they had been together for 29 years.

“I hear what the ladies are saying, and my heart breaks for them. I don’t feel he is a danger to the community,” she said. “He is with me all the time.”

Mrs. Downing stated she did not see any signs of criminal activity during her relationship with her husband.

When asked by Judge Gary Libey, she confirmed that they had been together when the crimes were committed.

“I was pregnant with my fifth child,” she said.

Downing’s young son, youngest daughter and nephew were shocked to learn of the crimes.

“He raised me to be against those crimes. I was taught since I was born,” Downing’s youngset son, Quinten Downing said. “It was a real shock to all of us. I do not believe he is the same man.”

When given the chance to speak for himself, Downing thanked his family for being there for him, and addressed his victims.

“To the ladies I hurt, I can’t imagine the harm and the shame that I’ve done to you,” Downing said. “I have lived in regret of those moments my entire life. My actions cannot be justified.”

Downing also said later that he had “not meant any harm.”

Downing pleaded for the mercy of the court, stating that he had a pornography addiction at the time, which had almost ruined his marriage.

Yet, with his acceptance of God, he finally had let the addiction go, and that he prays for the women who he committed these crimes against, Downing said.

In response to Downing’s pleas for mercy, Libey noted Downing repeatedly said he had not meant harm, and yet had caused irreparable harm to not only the victims, but his own family who had not known of his crimes.

Libey further stated that if he meant what he said about being a changed man, he would have acknowledged the harm that he caused at an earlier date.

Downing received the maximum time of life recommended by the state with a minimum of 214 months.