After 10 years of waiting, justice is awarded to a young rape victim.
Congratulations to Assistant District Attorneys Lauren Hogan and Macy Pesavento, who secured a Guilty conviction on July 15th, 2025, against defendant Leopold Mpawinayo on the Class A Felony charge of Rape of a Child. The victim was only 12 years old in 2015 when Mpawinayo picked up the victim, who was a stranger to him, and raped her. Although the victim reported the crime immediately, the DNA didn’t hit CODIS (the national DNA crime database) until five years later. Mpawinayo was then connected to this case, and several other crimes.
Prosecutors praised Crimes Against Children Detective Rob Carrigan, who was able to locate the victim almost 10 years after the crime. Victim Witness Coordinators Alex Ondrus and Hannah Estes provided support to the victim, who was finally able to get Justice after years of waiting and wondering if her attacker would ever be held accountable.
In the end, it only took the jury 30 minutes to find Mpawinayo Guilty of Rape of a Child, which is a mandatory Range 2 offense, carrying prison time of 25 to 40 years at 100%. His sentencing will be September 4th.