Darnell Peoples, a 22-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the armed oral sexual assault of a senior citizen. The incident occurred at the victim's home in Southeast Washington, D.C. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Peoples pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse on November 15, 2024, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He has been in custody since his arrest on June 11, 2024. His plea agreement included a stipulated sentence of 20 years imprisonment, which was accepted by Judge Anthony C. Epstein.
Upon release from prison, Peoples will be required to register as a sex offender and remain under supervised release for life.
The proffer of facts presented during the plea hearing detailed that on June 11, 2024, while the victim was working in her yard, Peoples approached her with a knife and demanded she get on her knees. When she informed him that she could not comply, he forcibly threw her to the ground and assaulted her.
U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith praised the investigative efforts of the Metropolitan Police Department and acknowledged assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section Cybercrime Lab. They also commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Sourbeer for her role in investigating and prosecuting this case.