Crime & Courts

Man in 2012 sexual assault at Town Square Park gets 5-year sentence

A man who admitted to sexually assaulting an incapacitated 18-year-old woman in broad daylight at a downtown Anchorage park was sentenced Friday to serve five years in prison.

Police charged Earl Vrooman, 43, with second-degree sexual assault in June of 2012 for a brazen attack on the drugged young woman, who was high on synthetic marijuana, at Town Square Park, according to the charges against Vrooman. Vrooman pleaded guilty in October 2012.

According to the original charging document, a witness flagged down a police officer, who stopped the assault. The woman was awake but completely unresponsive, the charges said.

The charges said Vrooman told a detective he met the woman earlier that day and claimed she promised him sexual favors if he got her some Spice, a generic name for synthetic marijuana and which is illegal in Anchorage. They smoked about half a joint, the woman went catatonic, and Vrooman pulled both of their pants down and started having sex her, the charges said.

On Friday, a judge sentenced Vrooman -- who had a previous sexual assault conviction from 2001 -- to 10 years in prison, with five years suspended, and 10 years' probation, according to prosecutor Paul Miovas.

Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.

By CASEY GROVE

casey.grove@adn.com

Casey Grove

Casey Grove is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. He left the ADN in 2014.

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