Joseph Van Eck sentenced to 162 years for sexual assaults

Joseph Van Eck has been sentenced to 162 years to life in prison for multiple sexual assaults in the Denver metro area. The First Judicial District Attorney's Office in Jefferson County said Eck committed the crimes on four women between April and September 2020.

The victims were all unhoused women. Investigators said that Van Eck offered them a ride and then drove them to a remote area in Jefferson County where he would threaten and assault them.

According to the Jeffco Sheriff's Office, "Three of the victims were lured into Van Eck's truck by offering them a ride, and one victim was grabbed and pulled into the truck by her purse. Once the victims were inside the truck, Van Eck would drive to a remote area in Jefferson County where he threatened to kill, physically assaulted, and forced them to engage in unwanted sexual activity. Van Eck was armed with a knife and a gun on more than one occasion."  

At his sentencing, the DA thanked the victims for their bravery. One of the victims addressed the court stating, "Because of him, I'm scared of everybody. He terrified me beyond belief."

"These four women lived on the streets, and that's where he hunted them," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Tyra Forbes in a statement. "Kidnapping them, threatening them, beating them, driving them to a deserted trailhead in the middle of the night, brutally raping them, and then dumping them on the side of I-70…that level of depravity deserves the maximum sentence allowed by law."

He was found guilty by a jury in March.