An Independence man pleaded guilty today in Johnson County District Court to raping a 22-year-old sheriff's deputy in Olathe, Kansas.
Brady Newman-Caddell, 22, admitted to two counts of rape, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sodomy.
In October 2016, Newman-Caddell and 25-year-old William Luth of Blue Springs, Missouri, forced the Johnson County deputy into a car, covered her face and drove off before taking turns sexually assaulting her.
Luth pleaded guilty in December to the same charges and was sentenced in February to 41 years in prison. Newman-Caddell is set to be sentenced in October.
Both men have also been charged with the rape of another woman, Taylor Hirth, in Independence, Missouri, earlier in 2016.
Hirth was at home in bed next to her 2-year-old daughter when she says Luth and Newman-Caddell broke into her apartment and raped her. She reported the incident to Independence police, but there was no progress in her case until the men were charged with raping the female deputy, and DNA in that case was found to match DNA in Hirth's case. In December 2016, Newman-Caddell was charged with raping Hirth.
Hirth told KCUR earlier this year that she sensed the detectives didn't believe her and that if they had, her attackers would not have been able to sexually assault another woman.
"I hope that it drives home the need for training on how you handle sexual assault crimes," Hirth said. "I want to know they'll believe the next victim so this won't happen again."
Andrea Tudhope is a reporter for KCUR 89.3. Email her at andreat@kcur.org, and follow her on Twitter @_tudhope.
