Craigslist assailant gets 18-year term

Friday, Jan. 29, 2010

During a home search that turned up a safe stocked with handguns, police found a letter written by Kelvin Cousar to his father, one that described his "growing hate for women," inner demons and urges he couldn't understand.

"I've got some problems that I can't explain," wrote Cousar, 37, of Temple Hills. "To just want to hurt someone for no reason just because they are who they are."

On Monday, a Charles County prosecutor read excerpts from the letter at a sentence hearing where Cousar received an 18-year prison term for brutally sexually assaulting a woman he had met through an online classified advertisement on Craigslist. The victim offered her erotic services on the Web site and met Cousar at the Master Suites Hotel in Waldorf on April 12 for a massage and lap-dancing session, she previously testified.

But during the meeting, Cousar reportedly pulled out a silver handgun and began threatening to kill her unless she followed his instructions. Dragging her from room to room by the hair, Cousar forced the victim to perform sex acts as he pointed the gun at her head, she testified.

When he took the stand, Cousar denied threatening the victim with a weapon and said their encounter was consensual.

A jury Nov. 20 convicted him of carrying a handgun, reckless endangerment and third-degree sex offense, acquitting him of 12 other counts including first-degree sex offense and assault.

Before his Monday hearing began, Cousar talked quietly with his wife as she held their baby son. His wife later spoke to Circuit Court Judge Amy J. Bragunier, describing Cousar as a good provider and a family man. While she was "floored" to learn Cousar had been meeting women for sex, she said she forgave her husband and wants him to come home.

Charles County Deputy State's Attorney Anthony B. Covington asked the woman whether Cousar told her about feelings described in the letter to his father, which says: "That's just one of the demons I must fight, my growing hate for women."

She said he never expressed the thoughts to her.

"It's obvious Mr. Cousar was living a double life," said Covington at the hearing.

According to Covington, investigators have connected Cousar to a 1995 rape case, and two other women have come forward to say he attacked them. One of the women testified at Cousar's Charles County trial.

However, Cousar's sentence shouldn't take into account the pending charges, argued defense attorney, John J. Pikulski IV. He added that "it speaks volumes that Mr. Cousar's wife forgives him" and asked Bragunier to sentence him within the range of two to seven years, inside the guidelines set by a state commission.

Covington argued Cousar's crimes deserved a sentence that went above the guidelines.

"Your honor heard the horrific nature of this case," the prosecutor said. "The bottom line is he needs to get every day that you can possibly give him."

Cousar also spoke to the judge, apologizing for the damage he had done.

"I don't even have the words to explain what I'm feeling right now. … I'm not who that paperwork says I am," Cousar said, referring to a presentencing report. "I can show you and the world. I just want a chance to prove who I am."

He said he had written the letter to his father in a moment of anger and described it as "venting."

But Cousar's apology and a pile of letters from his friends and family requesting leniency didn't cause Bragunier to scale back the sentence.

"The crimes committed on [the victim] were crimes against human dignity. Your wife may have forgiven you, but society does not," Bragunier said. She sentenced Cousar to three years on a weapons charge, five years for reckless endangerment and 10 years for third-degree sex offense, for a total of 18 years of incarceration.

Pikulski said the long prison term is disappointing.

"Anytime the judge maxes people on every charge and runs them consecutive, I feel it's excessive," Pikulski said. An appeal has been filed for Cousar, he said.

To Covington, the judge's decision was appropriate.

"[Cousar] is clearly a danger to many people," he said.

brodgers@somdnews.com