Purdue student charged with two counts of rape
TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) – A man arrested for a Purdue sexual assault last week has been charged with two counts of rape by Tippecanoe County prosecutors this week.
According to Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington, 19-year-old Donald Grant Ward – a Purdue sophomore – was charged with two counts of rape Wednesday after a sexual assault incident placed him in police custody on Feb. 12.
According to court documents, the victim told police she was at a party in her boyfriend’s Purdue dorm room and had fallen asleep with her boyfriend in her boyfriend’s bed at some point in the early morning hours. She was awakened to sexual touching and proceeded to have sex with whom she thought was her boyfriend. But after returning from a bathroom break, she was surprised to find Ward in her boyfriend’s bed.
Paperwork reveals Ward told police after the victim’s boyfriend left the room, he climbed up into the bed with the woman. He indicated that the victim thought he was her boyfriend and told police “because she got very close to me.” Ward said the room was very dark and admitted to having sex with the victim knowing she believed him to be her boyfriend.
Ward was booked into the Tippecanoe County Jail last week, but has since bonded out.