PORT ANGELES — A 43-year-old Port Angeles man was found guilty this week of four charges involving the brutal 2020 sexual assault of 24-year-old woman after she testified against him.
The six-man, six-woman jury took 2 hours, 20 minutes Monday to find that Sidney S. Hicklin Jr. committed the crimes of second-degree rape by forcible compulsion, second-degree assault by strangulation, unlawful imprisonment and felony harassment against the woman, who duped Hicklin into letting her escape, according to court documents.
Hicklin, who does not have a criminal history, will be sentenced July 8 in Clallam County Superior Court.
Sentencing
Depending on his offender score, he could face at least 6½ years in prison. His incarceration will be followed by a period of community custody and lifetime sex offender registration.
The woman — who testified for 2 hours, 20 minutes during the three-day trial, according to court records — told authorities she went to Hicklin’s mother’s Port Angeles home the night of July 4, 2020.
According to testimony at the trial and the probable cause statement, both were drinking when she left to go to a nearby convenience store to get more alcohol.
She said they were friends when the assault occurred.
Hicklin testified they had been romantically involved.
She denied his assertion that she was a former girlfriend.
When she returned and could not find his bank card that she had taken with her, Hicklin became angry, according to testimony.
Hicklin, who was being aggressive, pinned her on a couch, grabbed her neck and squeezed with both hands, court documents said.
“I will end you,” he said, according to the probable cause statement.
Hicklin, 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, released and applied pressure for 30 minutes, pushing her pants down with one hand and raping her.
“She closed her eyes because she believed Hicklin Jr. was going to kill her,” according to the statement.
She was able to push him off enough to stop the assault, with Hicklin continuing to yell about his bank card.
When she said she would look for it in her car, he slowly released his grip from around her neck.
“She ran out of the front door with her pants partially down and had left her car keys on the couch,” according to the probable cause statement.
“[The woman] ran for her life.”
Hicklin, who testified for 40 minutes in the three-day trial, said nothing during his testimony about the two having sexual contact.
Hicklin testified that the woman never returned to the house after going to the convenience store.
Port Angeles lawyer John Black, representing Hicklin, did not return calls for comment Thursday.
There was testimony at the trial that the woman suffered from blackouts, according court records.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Roberson said in a press release that Hicklin’s defense was centered on the woman’s allegedly flawed memory.
“The jury disagreed with that theory,” he said.
Evidence against Hicklin included medical records, DNA found on the woman’s neck and Facebook Messenger records documenting the timeline of events, the press release said.
“It is no secret that many sexual assaults in our country go unreported and unprosecuted,” Roberson said in the release.
“Here, the survivor not only bravely reported the assault, she courageously faced her rapist in court and testified to what he did to her.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.
