A 25-year-old man convicted of raping his mentally ill neighbor at knifepoint has been sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.
In the early morning hours of Nov. 16, 2015, Myles Joshua Bowersox, of Rockville, climbed through the then 63-year-old woman's bedroom window who lived in the bottom floor unit of his apartment complex, investigators said.
Bowersox pulled her shirt over her head so she could not see him and assaulted her. He then held a knife to the woman's stomach and told her he would kill her if she called police, according to court documents.
"It's probably every woman's worst nightmare,"said Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy after the sentencing on Wednesday. "It's despicable. It really is deplorable."
The victim suffers from schizoaffective disorder. Prosecutors said Bowersox had seen her several different times and knew she had mental health issues.
"I think he thought he could get away with it because of the mental condition that he observed when he passed her," McCarthey said.
But fingerprints from the bedroom window sill and DNA evidence from the scene linked Bowersox to the crime.
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Just before he was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years, the victim's brother addressed the judge saying, "This crime has made her more anxious and has made her afraid to even go outside. It has set her back quite a ways as to her ability to handle herself in the outside world."
While the victim's family says it's possible she may never recover, they're grateful Bowersox will never be a free man again.
McCarthy said Bowersox was not sorry for the crime.
"If someone shows no remorse, why would you have any hope that they could actually rehabilitate themselves and come back into the community?," McCarthy said.
