Denver man receives 20 years to life sentence for sexual assault in Longmont

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include commentary from the defendant’s attorney.

A Denver man was sentenced Monday to 20 years to life in state prison for raping a woman in Longmont in 2021.

Bryan Burkhalter, 32, was found guilty by a jury in March on two counts of sexual assault.

On Monday, he was sentenced to 12 years to life on one count and eight years to life on the other. The two counts will be tried consecutively and will be followed by a suspended sentence of five years to life, said Shannon Carbone, spokeswoman for the Boulder District Attorney’s Office.

Following the verdict on Monday, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty issued a statement via email.

“After being found guilty on both counts of sexual assault, today’s sentence is the right outcome,” Dougherty wrote.

“Thanks to the victim’s courage and strength to come forward and go through this process, our team was able to obtain justice. I am grateful for their hard work as well as the efforts of the Longmont Police Department. As this case and his criminal history in Texas demonstrate, this defendant is a danger to the community and the lengthy prison sentence is certainly the appropriate consequence for his actions.”

Burkhalter’s defense attorney also made a statement following the verdict.

“Bryan Burkhalter maintains his innocence,” wrote Colin Bresee. “Two adults met on Tinder and chatted for over a month before agreeing to meet. During their date, they had consensual sex. She continued the date by inviting Bryan back and giving Mr. Burkhalter the code to her apartment. They had more consensual adult sex. The next day, after speaking with friends and family, she reported that this was not consensual. Consensus is not a test that can be tested after the fact. Bryan is very optimistic about his appeal.”

According to an affidavit, a woman called Longmont police and said she was sexually assaulted on July 10, 2021.

The woman said she met Burkhalter on the dating app Tinder and the two messaged each other for a few weeks before she invited him to meet in Longmont.

She said they spent the day together before Burkhalter asked if they could go to her place. The woman agreed, but said she was not sure if she wanted to have sex with Burkhalter and that if she did, he would need to use contraception.

The woman told police that at home, Burkhalter carried her into the bedroom and gave him a condom to put on. But Burkhalter refused to use the condom and then sexually assaulted the woman, even though she asked him to stop and tried to get away from him.

The woman told Burkhalter to leave, but he insisted on staying and taking a nap because he had been drinking. The woman said she locked herself in the bathroom until he finally left.

Burkhalter later texted the woman memes alluding to anal sex.

The woman was taken to a hospital for examination for sexual assault.

Using information from Tinder, the police finally managed to identify Burkhalter.

According to the affidavit, Burkhalter had previously been arrested in Texas for drunk driving and in Loveland for harassment.

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