Judge’s Ruling Allows Civil Damages Trial to Proceed Against Man Charged for 2000 Rape at Penn State Golf Course

The civil case against a man charged in the 2000 rape of a woman at the Penn State golf course will move toward a trial to determine damages following a Centre County judge’s ruling this week.

Judge Brian Marshall denied a petition by Kurt Rillema to strike a default judgment against him. Rillema failed to respond to the judgment in a timely manner, provide a valid reason for doing so or present a “meritorious defense,” Marshall wrote.

The default judgment grants a victory for the woman who Rillema is accused of assaulting at knifepoint in July 2000, and the trial’s purpose will be to determine what Rillema must pay in damages.

Rillema was criminally charged in the case in April 2023 after investigators said DNA evidenced linked him to the rape of the 19-year-old Penn State student and a similar attack in 1999 at a Michigan golf course.

The woman in the Penn State case filed a lawsuit against Rillema in May 2023, and Marshall entered a default judgment against Rillema eight months later after he failed to respond to the complaint.

That judgment was vacated in April 2024 after Rillema notified the court that an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding had been initiated against him in 2023, requiring the case to be stayed.

Rillema, however, failed to provide timely notice when the bankruptcy case was dismissed, Marshall wrote, and another default judgment was entered against him in November. He did not challenge the judgment until the end of February.

His attorney in the lawsuit attributed the delay in reporting the conclusion of bankruptcy case to a communication failure with Rillema’s bankruptcy attorney.

“The Court acknowledges that Defendant is currently incarcerated and balancing a number of outstanding matters in this Commonwealth and in other states, with different sets of attorneys for each matter,” Marshall wrote. “That does not, however, excuse Defendant’s failure to comply with this Court’s Order requiring that he inform this Court of the conclusion of his bankruptcy matter…”

He added that Rillema “is responsible for keeping his counsel informed and vice versa, including coordinating communication between among counsel.”

Rillema was tried first in Michigan, where he resides and was arrested, and was sentenced in January to 10 to 15 years in prison.

Centre County prosecutors plan to extradite him for trial on charges including rape, sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault in the Penn State case.