Yelm man sentenced for sexual assault at costume party

A Yelm man will serve 45 days in jail after being accused of raping a woman at a Halloween party in 2013.

Joshua Keith Locke, 32, appeared Monday in Thurston County Superior Court after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of attempted rape in the third degree, which is a gross misdemeanor. The sentence includes one year of probation.

Locke, who was initially charged with felony third-degree rape, also must undergo a sexual deviancy evaluation and register as a sex offender.

The assault took place during a costume party in southeast Thurston County on Nov. 2, 2013, the Saturday after Halloween. The victim, age 20 at the time, had met Locke at the party.

According to court documents, she told detectives she had declined his invitations to go into a room. Locke, who was wearing a caveman costume, eventually pulled her into a dark room and sexually assaulted her.

The victim said she pleaded for Locke to stop, but he would not let her leave the room. When a friend of the victim found them in the room, Locke walked out and at one point was yelling “she wanted it,” according to documents.

At Monday’s hearing, Judge Erik Price denied electronic home monitoring for Locke and also expressed empathy to the victim’s family members in the courtroom. The victim’s mother told the court that the family has suffered “two and a half years of rage” since the sexual assault took place.

Price will allow Locke to serve his sentence on work release.

“For too long, these types of crimes have not been taken seriously enough in our society,” Price told the court. “Mr. Locke, I hope you understand this behavior is utterly unacceptable.”

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 7:03 AM with the headline "Yelm man sentenced for sexual assault at costume party."