Casper Man Sentenced to 5-7 Years for Rape

A Casper man was sentenced to a five- to seven-year prison sentence for first-degree sexual assault of an unconscious woman, a Natrona County District Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Cody Tingey heard the sentence from Judge Daniel Forgey, who agreed with a plea agreement reached by his public defender and a prosecutor.

In April, he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman, but denied providing alcohol to the woman who was 21.

The sentence, with 238 days credit for time served, will be served concurrently with another sentence for a crime committed in Uinta County, Forgey said.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Taheri said Tingey's victim did not wish to make a verbal victim impact statement, but she did submit a letter to the court.

Tingey declined to comment before Forgey handed down the sentence.

The case started Sept. 4 when Casper police detectives were called to the Wyoming Medical Center emergency room in response to a possible sexual assault, according to charging documents.

The victim told police that two nights earlier she was planning to go to "Trappers," a place in the county where bonfires and parties happen.

Tingey and the victim began communicating via Facebook. The victim did not know Tingey well. She didn't want to go to "Trappers" because she and her friends were underage and Tingey was older.

The victim and Tingey eventually met at a convenience store and went to a nearby park and drank before going to an apartment.

She told police she was not attracted to Tingey, nor was she interested in a sexual relationship.

About 5:30 a.m., she said she became tired, laid down on the couch, and woke up about 6:30 a.m. with Tingey behind her and having intercourse.

She gathered her clothes and left. She went to several friends' residences, with the last friend calling an ambulance because she was so intoxicated.

She and detectives went to where she parked her vehicle. Detectives found her cell phone with the messages between her and Tingey.

Detectives then went to Tingey's residence, and he said he believed they were there because she told them he raped her.

He admitted buying alcohol for her and drinking, but he was afraid of mentioning that because the terms of his parole prohibited him from being around alcohol.

Tingey said they went to his apartment and were watching television when his girlfriend sat with them. His girlfriend was angry at him having another woman over because she recently learned she was pregnant. The girlfriend later left the room.

He said the alleged victim grabbed his shoulder and he started having sex with her.

Tingey agreed to have evidence taken from his body for a sexual assault examination kit.

Efforts to contact Tingey after that were unsuccessful until his arrest in mid-December.