Mansfield man accused of raping former classmate in East Lyme
East Lyme ― A nearly yearlong investigation by local police led to the arrest this week of a 23-year-old Mansfield man on rape and assault charges.
Desmond R. Dempsey was charged Monday with first-degree sexual 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 intoxicated and possibly drugged inside 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 brought the woman there to drink and hang out. The woman alleges that along with other alcoholic beverages, Dempsey poured her a shot of something brown and bitter tasting that made her feel like she had been given “laughing gas, like in the dentist,” the arrest warrant affidavit states.
She said she remembered bits and pieces of the assault, of being choked and in pain, telling Dempsey to stop and him replying “look at you struggling, relax for Daddy,” the warrant states. The woman was later treated at the hospital for injuries consistent with a sexual assault.
Dempsey, in his interview with a detective, claimed he and the woman had consensual sex. He said they were both drunk.
When he was questioned about why the woman was injured and if things had gotten rough, Dempsey told a detective that “if she told me to stop, I would have stopped.”
The warrant states that when asked if the woman passed out and was not conscious while they were having sexual intercourse, Dempsey “nodded ‘yes’ and said ‘somewhat,’ adding they were both nodding off. He denied drugging the victim.
Free on a $275,000 bond, Dempsey is due to appear Nov. 18 in New London Superior Court.
g.smith@theday.com