Washington man sentenced after sexually assaulting woman on Amtrak train

A Washington man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Friday after being found guilty of committing an act of sexual misconduct to a 20-year-old woman sitting next to him on an Amtrak train, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

A 20-year-old woman boarded an Amtrak train in Salem, Oregon on Oct. 31, 2017, and was seated next to 25-year-old Jerron Rolen, according to Sacramento County District Attorney spokeswoman Shelly Orio. The two spoke for a few hours until the victim fell asleep, according to a news release from the District Attorney’s Office.

When she woke up, Rolen was committing an act of sexual misconduct against her, the release said. The woman went to the restroom and moved to a different part of the train.

The release said that the woman told an Amtrak attendant about the incident and Rolen was arrested in on the train in Sacramento, where he was scheduled to get off the train. Orio said that Rolen was convicted of sexual assault by foreign object while the victim was unconscious and assault with intent to commit mayhem, rape, sodomy or oral copulation on Aug. 6.

Rolen was also convicted in the state of Washington on two counts of child sexual assault, the release said.