Man receives 25-year prison sentence for raping Hillsboro woman in 2021

Officials said the woman went to police after being sexually assaulted, despite threats upon her life.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Tyrik Aliem Dawkins was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday in a Washington County court for rape and other sex abuse charges. 

The charges stem from a series of events that unfolded around September 2021, when Dawkins met a woman via an online dating site, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. 

“The defendant quickly became aggressive and possessive of the victim,” officials said in a release. “These actions escalated when Mr. Dawkins sexually assaulted the victim multiple times at her apartment in Hillsboro. He took her cell phone, her car keys, and repeatedly blocked her from leaving her apartment over a two-day period.”

Dawkins then “forced” the woman to drive him to the Portland hotel where he was lodged. Though he allowed her to leave his hotel eventually, he threatened to kill her should she tell the police about what he did. 

The victim nevertheless reported the attacks to the Hillsboro Police Department and acquaintances. 

Officials said law enforcement gained key digital evidence connecting the defendant to the victim through interviews with her and those she spoke to about it. 

On April 25, Dawkins was convicted of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sodomy, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and coercion.