Rapist Gets 38 Years For Attacking Teens

Sat., Sept. 14, 1996

From Staff Reports

Mark N. Kelley received a 38-year prison sentence for rape, assault and kidnapping on Friday in Spokane Superior Court, but not before he blamed the prosecutor and the victim for his convictions.

Kelley, 32, has been in and out of courtrooms and prison for more than a dozen years. His sentence this week should put him behind bars “until he’s an old man,” said Deputy Prosecutor Carol Davis.

A jury convicted Kelley in July of first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and second degree assault.

The crimes occurred last December when Kelley broke into a Spokane residence, held three teens captive, threatened to kill one with a gun, then raped one of the girls living there. Davis and the prosecutor’s office were criticized when a county judge ruled earlier this summer that Kelley’s right to a speedy trial had been violated.

But Davis and Prosecutor Jim Sweetser argued that the ruling was incorrect. The judge reversed himself and Kelley went to trial.

He also faces sentencing for two other felony crimes, including robbing an elderly Spokane woman in 1994.

, DataTimes

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