Mansfield man accused of raping former classmate in East Lyme

Oct. 31—EAST LYME — A nearly year-long investigation by local police led to the arrest of a 23-year-old Mansfield man this week on charges of rape and assault.

Desmond R. Dempsey was charged Monday with first-degree assault, second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault of a former high school classmate.

The 22-year-old Norwich woman claims Dempsey violently sexually assaulted her while she was drunk and possibly drugged at a restaurant under renovation at 374 Main St. in Niantic on the night of Oct. 26, 2023.

Police said Dempsey was a contractor at the restaurant at the time and had taken the woman there to drink and hang out. The woman claims Dempsey poured her a shot of something brown and bitter along with other alcoholic drinks, making her feel like she had been given “laughing gas, like at the dentist,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

She said she remembered bits and pieces of the attack, choking and being in pain, and told Dempsey to stop and he responded, “Look at you struggling, relax for daddy,” the warrant said. The woman was later treated at hospital for injuries related to an assault.

Dempsey claimed in his interview with a detective that he and the woman had consensual sex. He said they were both drunk.

When questioned about why the woman had been injured and whether things had become difficult, Dempsey told a detective that “if she had told me to stop, I would have stopped.”

The warrant states that when asked if the woman passed out and was unconscious while they were having intercourse, Dempsey nodded “yes” and said “somewhat,” adding that they both fell asleep. He denied drugging the victim.

Dempsey is free on a $275,000 bond and will appear in New London Superior Court on November 18.

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