A sex offender who was on parole from a previous offense has been sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years for raping a saleswoman in a Prince George’s County cell phone shop.
Twenty-one-year-old Travis Rashad Shepperson, of Hyattsville, had been convicted of sexual assault, robbery and gun charges for the May 5, 2008, attack in a Landover T-Mobile shop.
He was arrested after police traced a stolen cell phone to a parole office where Shepperson was sitting and chatting away.
In a news release, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey called it “a devastating case” and said he hoped that Shepperson would spend the rest of his life behind bars because “he deserves it.”
Jurors convicted Shepperson in March after prosecutor Anika Harvey told them that Shepperson had gone into the cell phone shop brandishing a silver revolver. When the clerk told him there was no money, he took her cell phone and about $100 in cash from her. He then marched her to the back of the store, where he raped her at gunpoint.
While the assault was occurring, a prospective customer came into the shop. Shepperson pretended that he worked there and called out to the customer. This gave the victim the opening she needed: She darted into the shop’s bathroom and bolted herself in.
Shepperson ordered her out and threatened to take her car, but the woman stayed in the bathroom. Eventually, Shepperson left.
Police asked T-Mobile to trace the victim’s cell phone and found the signal originating from a Prince George’s parole and probation office in Hyattsville. Police saw Shepperson in the lobby.
Court records show that Shepperson has at least one conviction for a prior sexual assault.
Initially, Shepperson denied any involvement in the attack. He claimed to have bought the phone from a friend for $20. Eventually, he admitted that he had robbed the store. He claimed that he had been threatened — that his family would have been killed — forcing him to rob the shop.
.........Sarah Tofte
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