A D.C. man will now spend nearly 30 years behind bars after he posed as a maintenance worker and then sexually assaulted a woman in Rosslyn.
Arlington County Circuit Court Judge Louise DiMatteo sentenced 25-year-old Richard Allen Lowe to 28 years in prison on Friday (Feb. 8). Lowe previously pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful wounding, abduction, burglary and sexual penetration back in August.
“The defendant preyed upon his victim’s sense of safety by posing as someone she should trust in her own home,” Police Chief Jay Farr wrote in a statement. “While nothing can completely restore her sense of security, our community is safer today because of the significant sentences imposed by the court on a violent offender.”
Prosecutors say Lowe entered an apartment building on the 1500 block of Key Boulevard around 9:45 a.m. on May 7, 2017, where he began knocking doors and claiming to be a maintenance worker.
When one woman opened her door, Lowe pushed past her into the apartment and sexually assaulted her before fleeing the scene. Detectives then relied on a “review of crime scene evidence, witness interviews and laboratory results” to identify Lowe as a subject, according to a news release.
Police then arrested Lowe in D.C. last February, and he pleaded guilty soon afterward.
“The sentence handed down by Judge Louise DiMatteo takes a dangerous predator off the streets and puts public safety front and center,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos wrote in a statement. “The defendant was brought to justice by the dogged work of Arlington County detectives who worked painstakingly to identity Lowe and link him to his crimes.”
Photo courtesy of Arlington Police