Durham man accused of multiple rapes and assault of a 5-year-old, records show
A Durham man was arrested Tuesday on multiple charges of rape and sexual assault, according to court records.
Police had been looking for Kendrick Lynn Yates, 35, since at least April 3, according to a Durham Crimestoppers Facebook post. Court documents show he is charged with:
- Second-degree forcible rape and two counts of second-degree forcible sex offense in a Feb. 17, 2023, incident.
- Second-degree forcible rape in a Feb. 9 incident.
- Two counts of statutory rape of a child by an adult and one count of statutory sex offense with a 5-year-old dating back to Jan. 1, 2018.
- Second-degree forcible rape in a Jan. 6, 2016, incident.
The circumstances surrounding three of the incidents are unclear, but a search warrant for Yates’ DNA outlines what allegedly occurred in the 2023 assault.
The victim, whom The News & Observer is choosing not to identify to protect her privacy, told police Yates drove her to his office on West Cornwallis Road to get an application to work for him, the warrant states. The pair had met in the drive-through of the victim’s current job and exchanged phone numbers to discuss her working for him.
Upon arriving at Yates’ office, Yates allegedly offered the woman, whose age was not specified, shots of alcohol. She accepted and, after becoming “tipsy,” asked to lie down on a couch in the office, the search warrant alleges. Yates then offered her a massage, which she accepted because her body hurt for unspecified reasons.
After straddling the woman and pouring oil on her back, Yates then assaulted and raped her, according to the search warrant. She reported the incident to police the same day and received a sexual assault examination at Duke University Hospital the next day.
It’s unclear how police uncovered the other allegations, but Yates was indicted March 17 in the 2016 rape, while the other charges were all issued April 2, court records show. His bail was set at $250,000 secured in the 2016 case, and bail has yet to be set for his other charges as of Wednesday afternoon, according to court documents.
