August 29, 2022
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Kyle Dennison, 27, sexually assaulted at least two women in Kensington last spring, Philly police say. He allegedly approached vulnerable women in his Dodge Charger, threatened them with a handgun and then assaulted them in a remote location.
A man suspected of sexually assaulting at least two women in Kensington last spring was arrested Sunday at his home in South Philadelphia, police said.
Kyle Dennison, 27, of the 2900 block of South 25th Street, is accused of approaching vulnerable women in his Dodge Charger, driving them to another location, threatening them with a handgun and sexually assaulting them.
On April 5, Dennison allegedly forced a 28-year-old woman into a car after she left a convenience store on Kensington Avenue shortly before 6 a.m., driving to a remote location and sexually assaulting her. A gun was pulled in the incident, police said.
About two weeks later, on April 21, Dennison allegedly offered a woman a ride near Kensington Avenue and Huntingdon Street. He later used a gun to force her into the backseat and sexually assaulted her, police said.
Investigators believe Dennison may have carried out additional assaults, but the victims are not coming forward, Police Captain James Kearney told 6ABC.
In May, police released a surveillance image of the charcoal gray Dodge Charger allegedly driven by Dennison during the attacks. At the time, they noted a third incident in which a 35-year-old woman was held at gunpoint and sexually assaulted after getting in a dark gray car near Whitaker and Erie avenues.
Police did not immediately respond to an inquiry asking whether Dennison is accused of committing that assault.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police department's Special Victims Unit at (215) 685-3252.
Philadelphia also has a sexual assault response center that offers private help to victims, including forensics, medical evaluations, court testimony and sexually transmitted infection prevention.
The number of rapes in the city has fallen in recent years, according to Philly police data. But gun violence against women is on the rise. Between January 2020 and mid-July, 659 women were shot, the Inquirer reported earlier this summer. According to the City Controller's database, 204 women have been shot in Philadelphia this year.
