Gavel
Cameron McDermott will now serve a concurrent 10-year and a seven-year prison sentence - Representational image iStock

A New York man who repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted two unconscious women has taken a 10-year plea deal on Friday, 9 February, in the Manhattan Supreme Court. Cameron McDermott had also recorded the assaults and saved the recordings on his computer in files marked "unconscious" and "rape".

The 32-year-old was accused of more than 200 counts of predatory sexual assault, rape, sex abuse and unlawful surveillance against the two victims. He originally faced up to 25 years in jail but after taking the plea deal, he will now serve a concurrent 10-year and a seven-year prison sentence. His sentence hearing has been scheduled for 6 April.

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McDermott had abused the two women, who reportedly knew him well, between 2010 and 2013 and had recorded the assaults which took place at least 13 times at various apartments in Manhattan, including his Upper East Side and Murray Hill residences, the New York Post reported.

The two women were not aware of the assaults and had no memory of the abuse, which allegedly included McDermott raping and sodomising them, and inserting objects inside their private parts. They only got to know about it in January 2017 when the saved videos of the assault were found by police at his home while investigating another case filed against him.

His house was raided on 19 January after he allegedly exposed himself publically and urinated on the leg of a woman while wearing tight black pants, a black wig and lipstick, the Post reported.

McDermott, who was working in medical device sales, was held without bail. Initially in June 2017, he pleaded not guilty to the charges but on Friday he changed his mind by taking the plea deal and pleaded guilty to first degree rape and sexual abuse.

The prep school student and trust fund heir will also have to register as a sex offender. District Attorney Cy Vance said in a statement, "Cameron McDermott violated two women while they were unconscious and unable to protect themselves from his predatory abuse.

"While a criminal conviction cannot begin to undo the damage done by these attacks, I hope his guilty plea brings a measure of comfort to the survivors in this case."