Man pleads not guilty in Wyo. Craigslist rape case, says he thought he was playing out fantasy

Man pleads not guilty in Wyo. Craigslist rape case

CASPER, Wyo. — A Wyoming man charged with carrying out an Internet-arranged rape has pleaded not guilty to five felonies.

Prosecutors say 26-year-old Ty Oliver McDowell forced his way into a woman’s Casper home in December, tied her hands and raped her at knifepoint. Investigators say McDowell told them he was responding to an online Craigslist ad and believed the woman wanted to play out a “rape fantasy.”

Prosecutors say the woman’s former boyfriend, 27-year-old Jebidiah James Stipe of Twentynine Palms, Calif., posted the ad without her knowledge to set her up for the attack. Stipe is charged with conspiracy to commit sexual assault.

Both men face life in prison if convicted.