A Hamilton County Criminal Court jury has found Anthony Lebron Vance, 54, guilty of rape.
The jury deliberated for roughly two hours before reaching the unanimous verdict.
Assistant District Attorney Andrew Coyle said that on Jan. 3, 2018, Vance grabbed the victim and dragged her behind several duplexes on Wilson Street, where he raped her.
After hearing the verdict from the jury, Judge Don Poole set a sentencing date for Oct.
14. Prosecutor Coyle said Vance faces a sentence of 20 to 30 years in prison, and there may be circumstances that might lengthen that sentence, based on the defendant’s prior record.
Prosecutor Coyle was assisted on the case by Assistant District Attorney Miriam Johnson.
A witness from the TBI Crime Lab testified Thursday morning that DNA from Vance was found on the body of the alleged rape victim.
The specialist said tests were negative for semen and sperm. The state proceeded on a charge that Vance digitally raped the woman.
After the TBI witness, the state rested its case. The defense had no proof.
Vance in 2014 had been charged with another rape. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and got a suspended 10-year sentence.
Earlier in the trial, the woman told the jury there was no doubt that Vance was the rapist in the incident on Jan. 3.
According to the victim, she got off of the bus at around 6:50 a.m., and was walking home. During this time, Vance began to approach her, and asked her questions about where he could find a bus, and if she wanted to buy drugs from him.
She pointed him in the direction of the nearest bus stop. After this, he attacked her from behind, and drug her to the bushes behind the duplex where she lived, she said. After Vance initially covered her head with a jacket, she was able to get it off.
The woman said after a man walked outside of his apartment in order to start his car, Vance stopped the assault. He began to help the victim put her clothes back on, and allegedly said, “Oh, you’re the wrong person. Can you pray with me, and forgive me?”
“How can you forgive someone who raped you, and then asks you to pray with him?” asked the woman.
She said Vance then snuck away, and she was taken to the hospital shortly thereafter. An investigator said when she was shown a photo lineup a few days later, the woman “immediately broke down and kept pointing at his picture,” according to the investigator.
The victim said she recognized him not only due to his face, but also his shirt, which was the same one he was wearing when he assaulted her.