Jury Convicts Poplar Man of Rape, Assault, and Burglary

The United States Attorney’s Office Announced that after having been acquitted in 2012 of sexual assault and then again in 2013—in trials involving other victims—Poplar resident Kevin Devereaux was found guilty of rape, assault, and burglary by a federal jury in Great Falls on Thursday, February 27, 2014, after a two-day trial.

Devereaux, 51, was charged with raping a woman in Poplar in 2009 and then assaulting her and burglarizing her house in 2013.

Witnesses testified that in May 2009, the victim was sleeping on her sofa when Devereaux suddenly appeared, standing over her. He grabbed her arm, dragged her down the hallway, and raped her in a bedroom. He laughed and then fled the house. Fearing retaliation from Devereaux, the victim recanted her story a few weeks later, and the case was closed.

Over the course of the next few years, Devereaux returned on numerous occasions and made repeated attempts to break into the victim’s house. The victim called the police several times to report his attempts to break in through a window, door, or garage.

In October 2013, Devereaux successfully broke into the victim’s house and attacked her while she was sleeping in a bedroom with her 7-year-old granddaughter. With the child in the room, Devereaux strangled the victim, repeatedly punched her in the face, and threated to kill her.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office consolidated the 2009 and 2013 offenses in a single indictment for trial. Devereaux faces maximum 30 years in prison for the rape, 20 years for the burglary, and 10 years for the assault.

The investigation was a joint effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law and Justice. Assistant United States Attorney Laura B. Weiss prosecuted the case.