Sexual Predator Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison
Sexual Predator Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison
Eagle, Colo. – Joshua Aaron Gewirtz, 28, Lexington, Ky, was sentenced Oct. 26, 2022, for two charges: 2nd Degree Assault-Causing Serious Bodily Injury (F4); and, Sexual Assault—Overcoming a Victim’s Will (F4). Defendant Gewirtz pleaded guilty July 27, 2022,in two cases involving separate victims. The assaults occurred in November 2020 and December 2020, in Avon and Red Cliff, Colorado. He was arrested on Aug. 4, 2021, in Ft. Collins, Colorado for these cases.
Per law enforcement investigations and Gewirtz’s own admissions, Gewirtz engaged in a similar pattern of behavior with both of the victims. He connected with them on a dating app, and met them for drinks at a local bar. After consuming several drinks, he went to his place or theirs where he became aggressive towards the victims in a sexual manner. Despite their non-consent, Gewirtz hit, choked and degraded both victims, ultimately forcing sex upon them. Both victims related that they became intoxicated in an unusual way, and more so than they anticipated they believed they should be based on the quantity of alcohol they had consumed. Gewirtz was an admitted user of illicit drugs, specifically LSD, and a search of his residence revealed LSD and liquid Xanax.
Both victims believed he drugged them unknowingly, rendering them unable to escape his brutal sexual attacks. Videos played at the sentencing hearing showed Gewirtz taking what the prosecution contended was LSD during the time of the second attack, as well as two videos of himself after the attacks, in which he was smoking marijuana and appeared to be boasting about the sexual assault.
This was not the first time Gewirtz had interactions with women he met in this manner. The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation confirmed Gewirtz used dating apps to lure women into meeting him under similar conditions, and then engaging in aggressive sexual contact that went beyond the women’s consent.
“Sexual predators like Mr. Gewirtz will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law in Eagle County,” said Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi S. McCollum. “Mr. Gewirtz engaged in depraved, assaultive, and non-consensual attacks on these two women that will forever affect them. We have held him accountable for his actions.”
Defendant Gewirtz was sentenced to 10 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, and to lifetime sex offender intensive supervised probation. He is scheduled for sentencing next month in a similar case in Larimer County.
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ALL PERSONS CHARGED WITH CRIMES ARE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL THE CONTRARY IS PROVEN IN A COURT OF LAW.
