A rape suspect reportedly watched several hours of violent pornography each day and used it as inspiration for his crimes, Kansas prosecutors say.
Jacob Ewing is accused of replicating scenes from seven porn videos he watched when he allegedly raped two women. A judge ruled that the videos are permitted to be used as evidence in his trial, the Kansas City Star reported.
“Apparently, portions of the videos depict acts that [Ewing] is said to have replicated himself upon the witnesses,” Jackson County District Judge Norbert Marek wrote in his ruling. “The relevance of this evidence could prove motive, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge or identity.”
Ewing “chose video after video” of women being raped or assaulted, which investigators say they discovered when they looked through his online browsing history, prosecutor Jacqie Spradling wrote in court documents.
Ewing allegedly raped one woman in September 2014 and another in May 2016.
Court papers describe how Ewing watched the violent porn videos within 45 days of the second rape he allegedly committed.
Spradling filed a motion that said there is evidence that Ewing watched four hours of violent porn a day on average, including scenes where women were strangled and forced to eat vomit, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
Ewing’s attorney said the footage is “highly, highly prejudicial” against her client and argued that the footage should not be used as evidence.
Ewing faces multiple charges, including rape, aggravated sodomy, and battery.
Marek previously declined a motion for similar evidence to be used against Ewing in a trial last month, where Ewing was acquitted of a separate case involving the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl.
Ewing faces multiple trials for separate sexual assault cases scheduled in June, August, and October. He remains in jail but pleaded not guilty to each of the charges against him.