Man guilty of rape in bank vault
A man accused of sexually assaulting a Chase employee last year at the bank’s Downtown office pleaded guilty Tuesday to kidnapping and three counts of rape.
Billy Dee Anderson, 32, is to be sentenced by Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Young on April 18. Anderson could face up to 44 years in prison and as much as $80,000 in fines. He also
will have to register as a sex offender for life.
Three additional counts of rape were dropped as part of a plea agreement.
Columbus police say that Anderson walked into the Chase Tower at 3rd and Broad streets at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 19, 2016, and told bank employees he wanted to rent a safe-deposit box. After the completion of paperwork, a bank employee took him to a vault on the lower level.
The employee set Anderson up in a private room with a safe-deposit box, but he followed her out and asked for a hug, said Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Rausch.
The employee refused, saying she was married. He told her to “shut ... up or I’ll kill you,” ordered her to undress, and pulled her pants and underwear down, Rausch said.
The woman feigned a medical event while Anderson sexually assaulted her. He got dressed, took her keys and phone and left, Rausch said.
The woman went to coworkers for help, and they followed Anderson outside and watched him until police arrived. He was arrested shortly after the assault.
Anderson had been released from a state prison just two days before the attack. He had served 3- years after being convicted in Franklin County on charges of abduction and attempted robbery.
DNA from a rape kit obtained at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center was later found to be a match for Anderson, Rausch said.
Chase has since closed the safe-deposit area of the Downtown bank because of its remote location, according to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien’s office.