Instead, she fought back, surviving the attack despite sustaining fearsome injuries. And now, McDaniel, 22, could spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime committed while he was out on bond for a sex crime against another woman.
Back in January 2013, McDaniel was reportedly busted on suspicion of sexual assault, unlawful contact and harassment.
The Castle Rock News-Press reveals that the victim was in her twenties. According to the First Judicial District DA's office, a jury found McDaniel guilty on one of these counts -- unlawful sexual contact -- this past January. But he was out on bond and working at Rubio's, a Highlands Ranch eatery popular with area high school students, when he came to law enforcement's attention again.
On April 4, the DA's office notes, a man attacked a teen girl at the Littleton apartment complex where she lived.The teen is said to have been repeatedly punched in the face and head. As a result, she lost consciousness multiple times. But when the man tried to sexually assault her, she was able to bite his hand as he covered her mouth and get away, at which point he fled from the apartment.
The teen's injuries included a subdural hematoma, lacerations, bruising and a fractured tooth, the DA's office points out. But she was still able to make it to her apartment window, where she saw the man drive away in a1990s Jeep Cherokee. Her subsequent description of the ride and the attacker himself helped lead the cops to McDaniel -- and the discovery of his DNA in her apartment certainly didn't help his case.
Neither did what the DA's office describes as "four violent, pornographic rape videos found on his cell phone when he was arrested" or apparent online research into the use of chloroform.The defense argued that McDaniel was innocent of the crime, but the jury felt otherwise, convicting him in February of child abuse causing serious bodily injury, attempted sexual assault-serious bodily injury and attempted sexual assault-force.
At McDaniel's sentencing this week, prosecutors shared a statement from his victim, now sixteen. It read in part, "Everything is still fresh in my head. This monster took a piece of me I will never get back."
Afterward, a judge ordered McDaniels to prison for an indeterminate sentence of 24 years to life.
Here's a CBS4 report from shortly after McDaniel's arrest, followed by his complete mug shot.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
More from our Colorado Crimes archive circa April 16: "Henry Ford arrest update: Charges against deputy include incest."
