(Editor’s note: due to the nature of the incident, some identifying details are being withheld.)
A Montgomery Township man initially accused of raping a neighbor during an August 2021 get together at his home has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Court records show 44-year-old Richard Ricardo Plummer pleaded guilty on Jan. 3 to one second-degree felony count of aggravated indecent assault without consent, as part of the plea agreement. The charge had been changed from an initial first-degree felony charge of rape – unconscious victim, according to court documents.
Additional charges of rape – forcible compulsion, sexual assault, indecent assault without consent, and related offenses were dropped in exchange for Plummer’s plea.
Sentencing has been deferred pending a pre-sentencing investigation and a sex offender assessment. Typically, sentencing occurs within 90 days of a guilty plea.
Plummer is facing up to 10 years in state prison and a maximum fine of up to $25,000 on the aggravated indecent assault charge.
Police were dispatched to a home on Knapp Road at 11:56 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2021, for a report of a sexual assault. The husband of the victim told dispatchers that his wife had just returned from a neighbor’s house stating that she had been raped by the homeowner, later identified as Plummer, according to charging documents.
Police arrived at the home and spoke with both Plummer and his fiancée, who acknowledged that the victim had been at their home for an hour or two and they were all drinking together, according to the criminal complaint. Plummer reportedly told police that he was never alone with the victim, and repeatedly denied having any physical or sexual contact with the victim, police said.
In an interview with investigators, the victim stated that she had arrived Plummer’s home around 8:30 p.m. and proceeded to consume four shots of liquor and two beers over the course of several hours, the report states. At some point, the victim said she lost consciousness, and when she awoke, she was face down on the carpet, bent over with Plummer behind her raping her, police said.
The victim said she was crying and screaming and eventually lost consciousness a second time, the report states. When she awoke the second time, she immediately got up, ran to her vehicle, and drove home, according to the complaint.
The report states that the victim was transported to Doylestown Hospital for a forensic sexual assault examination, which noted bruising on the victim’s hip and thighs, as well as other injuries.
In November 2021, investigators received a DNA analysis report from the Pennsylvania State Police Forensic DNA Division, which revealed a partial Y chromosome from an unidentified male that had come from the victim’s rape kit, the report states. Police were later able to secure a warrant to obtain a DNA sample from Plummer, and on March 8, 2022, a comparative DNA analysis showed that the partial Y chromosome found in the victim’s rape kit matched the Y chromosome found in the sample provided by Plummer, according to the complaint.
As a result of the investigation, Plummer was initially charged with felony counts of rape – forcible compulsion, rape - unconscious victim, and sexual assault, along with misdemeanor counts of indecent assault without consent, indecent assault – forcible compulsion, and indecent assault – person unconscious.
See also:
Hatfield Man Sentenced to Jail Time, Probation for Stalking Bucks County Woman
Man Sentenced to Prison After Pleading Guilty to 8th DUI Since 2010
Hilltown Man Sentenced to Prison for Sexual Abuse of 14-Year-Old Girl
Lansdale Man Pleads Guilty to Abuse of A Corpse in Death of Danny Torres
Hatfield Man Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Possession Following
