Man Pleads Guilty in Mistaken 'Rape Fantasy
LOS
ANGELES (Reuters) - A California man has pleaded guilty to
residential burglary after he set up a meeting with a woman on a rape
fantasy Internet chat page, but instead broke into a different woman's
apartment.
Michael
Todd Howard, 35, pleaded guilty in a court in San Diego on Tuesday in
return for an expected sentence of one year in jail and probation,
prosecutors said.
According
to court documents, last September, Howard broke into the home of a
woman with whom he thought he had set up an encounter on what was
described as a "rape fantasy" chat site. After he entered the
wrong apartment, he hit and struggled with the 25-year-old woman inside,
who told law enforcement officials she thought she was going to be
killed.
The victim
stopped the attack by yelling and attacking Howard's testicles. Howard
then asked for the name the victim used in the chat room and she
responded by saying she had never visited a chat room and did not have a
personal computer.
As a part
of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped charges of intent to commit rape,
false imprisonment and possession of illegal drugs. Howard will be
sentenced next month.
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