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Man allegedly rapes woman while he was awaiting trial for 4 other sex assaults

The victim in the most recent case was able to ID Byron Whitehorn as her attacker after reading about his convictions in four other sexual assault cases.

DENVER — A man who was awaiting trial in four LoDo sex assaults has been charged in a new sex assault case.

The Denver District Attorney's Office charged 53-year-old Byron Whitehorn with:

  • two counts of sexual assault
  • one count of false imprisonment

According to the arrest affidavit, the victim and her wife had gotten food and drinks at Vybe located near East 10th Avenue and North Broadway on May 27.

At around 9 p.m., the victim and her wife were leaving Vybe, the affidavit says. The victim had gone back to use the restroom while her partner walked toward their parked car, the affidavit says. 

>The video above aired when Whitehorn was arrested in the prior assaults in 2019

As the victim's wife walked south on Broadway, Whitehorn approached her and asked if she needed a ride and began walking the woman away from her vehicle, the affidavit says. Whitehorn asked the woman for a hug and then kissed her on the lips, the affidavit says.

The woman was able to walk away from Whitehorn and get into her vehicle, the affidavit says. Whitehorn then walked away from the woman and her vehicle, and ran into the victim who was walking toward her vehicle, the affidavit states.

The victim's wife saw the victim and Whitehorn talking and asked what was going on, and Whitehorn said everything was alright and that he would take the victim to her home, the affidavit says. The victim's wife, according to the affidavit, was intoxicated and confused and didn't know if her wife knew Whitehorn.

The victim got into Whitehorn's SUV believing he would drive her home, the affidavit says. The victim said Whitehorn instead drove her to his home in Wheat Ridge, the affidavit says.

Once at Whitehorn's home, the victim called her wife while checking doors to escape, but all of the doors were locked, the affidavit says. 

The victim said her next memory was being naked with Whitehorn on a bean bag chair, the affidavit says. Whitehorn then raped the victim, according to the affidavit.

After the sex assault, the panicked victim got dressed and checked the doors to escape, but the doors were still locked, the affidavit says. The victim said she used force to break open a door and then ran away from the home, the affidavit says.

The victim's wife, who was still at her vehicle near East 10th Avenue and Broadway, was on the phone with Denver Police when the victim began texting her for help, the affidavit says. 

The victim's wife was able to locate her wife by using a location app on her cell phone, the affidavit says. Police found the victim and drove her back to her home, the affidavit says. The victim was not sure where Whitehorn's house was due to having run from the home for a few minutes, the affidavit says.

A few weeks later, on June 19, the victim and her wife read a news article about Whitehorn being convicted in four sex assault cases, the affidavit says. They recognized Whitehorn's picture and called Denver Police's sex crimes hotline, the affidavit states.

RELATED: LoDo predator convicted of sexually assaulting 4 women

The investigator showed photo lineups to the victim and her wife, who each picked out Whitehorn, the affidavit says.

After the photo lineup, the investigator contacted Whitehorn's pre-trial officer, the affidavit says. While awaiting trial Whitehorn was required to wear a GPS ankle monitor, the affidavit says. The pre-trial officer gave the investigator GPS locations which showed that Whitehorn had been near Vybe from around 9:20-9:38 p.m. on May 27 and then showed him back at his home in Wheat Ridge at 9:53 p.m., the affidavit says.

Whitehorn was convicted on June 16 of sexually assaulting four women in 2017 and 2018. He had preyed on women leaving LoDo bars, offering them rides before sexually assaulting them, the DA's office said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, Aug. 27 related to those prior assualts.

RELATED: 3 unknown DNA matches found on glove box of Suzanne Morphew's vehicle, defense says

RELATED: Man gets life for sexual assault of 6 and 7 year old girls

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