Man Who Raped St. Martin's Student, Bragged To Her Friends And Family Gets 60+ Years

Posted: 2:17 pm PST November 17, 2010
Updated: 5:57 pm PST November 17, 2010

LACEY, Wash. -- A man who raped a St. Martin's University student and then called her friends and family to brag about the attack was sentenced to at least 60 years in prison on Wednesday.

Richard Bunch, 51, tased the woman to subdue her and then raped her on a trail near the St. Martin's campus in April 2008.

Prosecutors described the attack in arguing for a high sentence for Bunch.

"Not only did he tase her in her face, neck and eyes, but he also punched her in the face repeatedly to get her to shut up and take off her clothes," Thurston County Deputy Prosecutor Dominique Jinhong said.

After raping the woman, Bunch stole her cell phone and used it to call the woman's father and friends to brag to them about the attack and how he left the woman lying in the dirt, prosecutors said.

"His only child, he learns, has just been brutally raped by some stranger who has her phone and he can't do anything about it," Jinhong said. "He can't do anything about it. He can't comfort his daughter; he doesn't know if she's alive or dead."

Judy Prochnau, a victim advocate, also read a letter from the victim's father about the pain that call inflicted.

"Imagine the terror when a stranger tells you he has just raped your daughter," said Prochnau said. "Richard Bunch wanted to spread the misery to as many people as he could."

Before being sentenced, Bunch spoke out about the rape, apologizing for calling the victim's father, but not her friends.

"What happened between (redacted) and I wasn't rape; she says it was," Bunch said. "Being a parent myself, I should have never called him. Calling her friends, I wanted to embarrass the holy hell out of her for what she did to me."

The judge in the case told Bunch she considered his statement in court and his other actions nothing but an attempt to continue inflicting pain on the victim and her family.

She then sentenced him to 60 years to life in prison.

Bunch, who was a truck driver, had previously been convicted of raping a 13 year old girl in Nevada. He will now be moved to Ellensburg, where he is facing additional charges for the rape of a 9-year-old girl.

From: http://www.kirotv.com/news/25830287/detail.html?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss