A former University of Colorado Boulder student accused of sexually assaulting another student in 2022 was sentenced Tuesday to jail time and sex offender intensive probation after the original sentencing hearing was vacated last year.
Brennan Pieper, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault – no consent and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 10 years to life of sex offender intensive probation. The sex assault charge falls under Colorado’s indeterminate sentencing laws for sex offenses, meaning Pieper will have to undergo sex offense treatment and apply for release.
A jury originally found Pieper guilty of two counts of sexual assault and one count of unlawful sexual conduct in August 2024. It was determined that Pieper’s attorney had not accurately informed him about a plea offer, according to Shannon Carbone, a spokesperson for the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office. Pieper had declined a plea deal the DA offered ahead of the jury trial, Carbone said.
Instead of the case going to a re-trial, the DA’s office offered a different plea deal, Carbone said. In July, Pieper pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault – no consent.
Colorado’s sex offender intensive probation program can include severely restricted activities, daily contact between the sex offender and the probation officer, monitored curfew, home and employment visitation, drug and alcohol screening, treatment monitoring and payment of restitution.
If Pieper violates the conditions of his probation, he could face a sentence to state prison.
Pieper was arrested on Dec. 2, 2022, on suspicion of a reported sexual assault on CU’s campus in September of that year.
According to an affidavit, a woman reported she and Pieper were kissing in a dorm on the CU campus at night when he suggested they go to Kittredge Field. Pieper led the woman to a dark corner of the field near a shed, held the woman down and forced oral and digital penetration, the affidavit said. The woman told police the incident on the field was not consensual and that she told Pieper “no” several times.
Pieper initially denied being on the field, the affidavit said, but when shown surveillance camera footage, he said he and the woman only kissed.
According to the affidavit, “Pieper further changed his story” and said the woman initiated the sexual contact.
Pieper turned himself in on Aug. 11 to begin serving his jail sentence. Pieper has received credit for time served and is expected to be released Oct. 17, according to Carbone.
Pieper’s first defense attorney is under investigation for his conduct in the case, according to the DA’s office.
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