Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Second of four men found guilty on three counts of aggravated rape in 2012 UMass gang rape case

Pierpont Residence Hall in the Southwest Residential Area. (Collegian File Photo)
Pierpont Residence Hall in the Southwest Residential Area. (Collegian File Photo)

A jury found Justin King, the second of four men accused of raping a woman in her University of Massachusetts dorm room nearly three years ago, guilty on three counts of aggravated rape on Wednesday afternoon.

King, 21, of Pittsfield, and three of his friends had been charged with forcibly and repeatedly raping the then UMass freshman in her Pierpont Hall dorm room while she was heavily intoxicated.

He now awaits sentencing, which is scheduled for Monday at noon.

Emmanuel Bile, 21, of Pittsfield, one of King’s codefendants, was found guilty on two counts of aggravated rape in March. He is currently serving eight to 10 years in state prison.

The woman testified on Friday that she could barely move her body as the four men removed her clothes and took turns penetrating her during the early morning hours on Oct. 13, 2012 and did not stop until her objections grew louder, reported The Daily Hampshire Gazette.

The Gazette also reported that King told jurors that the sex the woman had with he and Liccardi was consensual and that she did not object until Bile joined, at which point King said he left.

Prior to the visit, King and Bile had sent text messages in which Bile said he wanted to hook up with one of the woman’s friends and King said he would “take” the woman, according to the Gazette.

Testimonies from friends of the women indicate that King and his three friends had been told not to come up the weekend of Oct. 12, 2012.

The other two men accused of participating in the gang rape are Adam Liccardi, 20, of Pittsfield, and Caleb Womack, 20, of Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Womack is charged on three counts of aggravated rape, while Liccardi faces an extra count for allegedly staying behind and raping the woman after the other three had left.

Womack and Liccardi are both on the July trial schedule.

Anthony Rentsch can be reached [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Anthony_Rentsch.

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