A Platte County man faces up to life in prison for sexually assaulting an extremely intoxicated man and then committing a domestic assault against another man.
Gregorio Davis, 25, was found guilty in Platte County Circuit Court of first-degree sodomy and fourth-degree domestic assault on July 3 after a two-day bench trial, presided over by Judge Dennis Eckold.
“It is both immoral and illegal to violate a person while they are barely conscious due to alcohol,” Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said. “Unfortunately, in too many cases like this one, some blame the victim for drinking or wonder why the victim didn’t fight back harder. Fortunately, Judge Eckold saw this conduct for what it is — a serious sexual assault.”
Gregorio Davis
Platte County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called to the scene of the crime in the early morning hours of July 29, 2017. They heard sounds of a domestic disturbance inside the residence. While investigating the domestic assault, officers learned that one of the men at scene had been sexually assaulted while he was either unconscious of nearly unconscious.
Davis initially denied any sexual contact with the victim, explaining, “He was of no use. He was unconscious.” Davis also said the victim “was too wasted” to engage in sex.
Later, Davis admitted to having sex with the victim while the victim was “kind of responsive.” In a call from the Platte County Jail, Davis described the victim as “kind of conscious” during the assault.
“Make no mistake: Alcohol-facilitated sexual assaults are crimes,” Zahnd said. “As the Stanford rape case demonstrates, the days of blaming victims for drinking instead of criminals for assaulting a person who cannot consent must come to an end.”
After the sexual assault, Davis physically assaulted another man by striking him repeatedly and causing him to bleed from the head. Deputies found the interior of the house in disarray consistent with an altercation. Davis admitted that he struck the other man first.
Eckold set sentencing for August 24.
The case was investigated by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department. It was tried by assistant prosecuting attorneys Chris Seufert and Kait Donnelly.