Rapist gets 17 years for off-campus attack
A man who beat and raped an Ohio State University student after breaking into her off-campus house more than five years ago was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison.
Travis Niemi, 33, pleaded guilty to one count each of rape, felonious assault and aggravated burglary in the case, which went unsolved until his DNA was entered in a nationwide database last year after a burglary arrest in Florida.
The sentence, recommended by prosecuting and defense attorneys as part of a plea agreement, was imposed by Franklin County Common Pleas Judge William Woods. Niemi could have been sentenced to as many as 30 years for the offenses.
The 22-year-old victim was savagely beaten and twice choked or smothered until she was unconscious during the attack at about 2:30 a.m. in her bedroom in the 100 block of East 12th Avenue, said Assistant Prosecutor Amy Van Culin.
According to Van Culin’s account, the woman was awakened by a man who immediately began punching her in the face. He choked her until she lost consciousness and later pushed her face into her pillow until she passed out. When she regained consciousness, she was naked from the waist down and the attacker was gone. A roommate called police, Van Culin said.
Niemi was indicted in the case one year ago after his DNA profile matched DNA collected from the crime scene. His DNA was on the victim’s T-shirt and on a bloody sock found outside the house. After the DNA match, investigators found that one of Niemi’s fingerprints had been lifted from a door knob in the house.
The victim, who now lives out of state, didn’t attend the hearing. Van Culin said the woman told her, “He’s pleading guilty. He knows what he did. There’s nothing else to say.”
Niemi offered a brief comment in court.
“I just want to apologize for what I did,” he said.
Defense attorney Robert Krapenc said Niemi was a homeless drug addict at the time of the attack and “his recollection is quite foggy.”
Despite not remembering much of what happened, a review of the evidence convinced Niemi that he committed the crimes, Krapenc said.