Michigan man charged with raping Penn State student in 2000, named in accuser’s lawsuit

A Michigan man charged with raping a Penn State student in 2000 at a Happy Valley golf course was named Thursday in a lawsuit filed by his accuser.

A 42-year-old woman from southeastern Pennsylvania, identified only by her initials, accused 51-year-old Kurt A. Rillema of false imprisonment, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“Victims of rape and sexual assault often suffer for life,” attorney Conor Lamb said in a statement. “Cases like this are important to show that victims should never lose hope that it is possible to achieve justice for these crimes, whether through criminal or civil law, or both.”

The 10-page lawsuit laid out many of the details that were first disclosed when Rillema was arrested in April. He faces felony charges after DNA from a coffee cup linked him to two rapes in different states more than two decades ago.

A Center County prosecutor who announced plans to prosecute Rillema said the Penn State Police investigation was aided by advances in investigative genetic genealogy.

The first rape of which Rillema is accused was reported in 1999 at a golf course about 30 miles north of Detroit. Investigators collected DNA but had no suspect, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said during a news conference.

The second case was reported in 2000 by a 19-year-old Penn State student who said she was raped with a knife near the 18th hole of the university’s Blue Course. She reported the attack the night it allegedly occurred.

Investigators worked for years to identify a suspect. DNA samples submitted to a national database produced a match, which drew investigators’ attention to the search for a man back in 2004.

A DNA technology company that can help police find suspects by searching for relatives in public databases and building family trees concluded that it was likely one of three brothers responsible for the rapes, Center County First Assistant District Attorney Sean McGraw said in April.

Investigators zeroed in on Rillema and tracked him down in January, collecting a Styrofoam coffee cup he had thrown away. DNA collected from the cup matched DNA collected as part of the rape investigation, McGraw said.

Rillema worked as a senior member of a national engineering company until his arrest. Investigators also described him as an avid golfer who played across the country.

Bouchard urged others who were sexually assaulted on a golf course to contact their local police department. Rillema is being held in the Oakland County Jail without bail.

Defense attorney Deanna Kelley wrote in a text message Friday that she was appealing the decision to deny him bail, arguing it was a violation of his due process rights. A decision has not yet been made.

Kelley, who represents Rillema only in the criminal charges against him, plans to challenge the evidence under constitutional law.

“The outcome of this case depends largely on the outcome of this challenge,” she wrote.

Rillema’s Montgomery County accuser is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. It is not known whether he has an attorney representing him in the lawsuit.