On July 19, 1991, boxer Mike Tyson invited Desiree Washington, an 18-year-old contestant in the Miss Black America pageant, to his Indianapolis hotel room and raped her when she refused his sexual advances.
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions and/or images of violent, disturbing, or otherwise potentially distressing events.
YouTube/20/20Desiree Washington was an 18-year-old beauty queen when she was sexually assaulted by Mike Tyson in an Indianapolis hotel room.
In July 1991, Desiree Washington, an 18-year-old contestant in the Miss Black America pageant, met boxer Mike Tyson during a rehearsal for the event in Indianapolis. When the celebrity athlete called her late one night asking her to tour the city in his limo, she eagerly agreed — but what she thought was a romantic date soon turned into a nightmare.
When Washington returned to Tyson’s room at Canterbury Hotel, the boxer propositioned her for sex and sexually assaulted her when she turned down his advances. Tyson was indicted in September 1991, and the resulting media frenzy sparked heated debate surrounding date rape. Tyson maintained that the sex had been consensual — and many people believed him.
Then, in February 1992, Tyson was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 10 years in prison with four years suspended. He ultimately served just three years behind bars.
While the boxer was able to continue his career and even briefly reclaim his title as heavyweight champion upon his release in March 1995, Desiree Washington’s life was left in shambles. She became depressed and withdrawn, all while her attacker continued his life as usual. This is the disturbing story of the Mike Tyson rape case and the famous boxer’s teenage victim.
How Desiree Washington Met Mike Tyson
Desiree Washington was born in 1973 in Coventry, Rhode Island, where she had a typical upbringing. She was involved in many extracurricular activities, such as softball and cheerleading, and she taught Sunday School at her church. She was an outgoing young woman who was voted the friendliest and most talkative of her high school class.
Washington also competed in beauty pageants, and during her senior year, she was named Miss Black Rhode Island, a title that earned her a spot in the Miss Black America pageant. In July 1991, she traveled to Indianapolis, where the event was set to take place.
YouTube/20/20Desiree Washington competes at the Miss Black America pageant in 1991.
Pageant rehearsals took place on July 18, 1991. That day, some of the contestants filmed a promotional video with former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. Washington soon caught Tyson’s eye, and after the two of them chatted for a while, Washington gave him her hotel room phone number.
That very night, around 1:45 a.m., Tyson called Washington and asked her to tour the city in his limo. She accepted his invitation, but Tyson then reportedly claimed he’d forgotten something in his hotel room and told Washington to come up with him while he grabbed it.
They made small talk as Washington sat on Tyson’s bed — and then the boxer asked the 18-year-old beauty queen to have sex with him.
Mike Tyson Rapes Teen Beauty Queen Desiree Washington
As reported by Indianapolis Monthly in 2017, Desiree Washington would later testify at the trial for Mike Tyson’s rape case, “He said, ‘You’re turning me on.’ I said, ‘I’m not like all those other women. I don’t know what you think I came up here for.'”
Washington then told Tyson she wanted to leave, but she had to use the bathroom first. When she was finished, she reportedly walked out to find Tyson sitting on the bed, wearing only his underwear. According to the teen’s testimony, he pulled her to the bed, pinned her down, and raped her, laughing as she cried.
“He was mean, evil,” Washington said. “I got on top and started to try to get away, but he slammed me down again.”
Bill Cramer/Wikimedia CommonsMike Tyson fights Tyrell Biggs in 1987.
Mike Tyson’s chauffeur, Virginia Foster, testified that after the attack, Washington returned to the limo “in a state of shock.” “Her hair wasn’t as neat; she looked frantic,” said Foster. The driver also claimed that Tyson had previously exposed himself to her in a hotel room.
The next day, Desiree Washington went to Methodist Hospital and reported that she’d been raped. Dr. Thomas Richardson, who examined her, confirmed that she had abrasions consistent with sexual assault.
Then, on July 22, Desiree Washington filed a formal complaint against Mike Tyson for rape.
The Mike Tyson Rape Case Goes To Trial
The Mike Tyson rape trial began on Jan. 27, 1992. Dozens of witnesses testified about the events of July 19, 1991, and Tyson’s overall behavior towards the beauty queens that summer, including 16 pageant contestants.
Meanwhile, Tyson claimed that Washington consented to having sex and even prepared herself beforehand. Indianapolis police recovered a panty liner belonging to Washington in Tyson’s hotel bathroom.
Google MapsCanterbury Hotel, now Le Méridien, where Mike Tyson raped Desiree Washington in July 1991.
However, Tyson’s attorney’s lack of experience in sexual assault cases led to a disastrous performance in the courtroom. Defense lawyer Vincent Fuller often used strategies that made Tyson look worse, such as putting witnesses on the stand to testify that Tyson used sexually charged language with all the beauty pageant contestants, not just Washington.
But Fuller’s worst decision was putting Mike Tyson himself on the stand. When the boxer was asked what he told Washington when they first met, he said, “I explained to her that I just wanted to f— her… That’s the way I am; I just want to know what I’m getting into before I’m getting into it.”
On Feb. 10, 1992, Tyson was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison followed by four years of probation. He also had to register as a sex offender. Tyson served just three years behind bars before he was released for good behavior in March 1995.
While Tyson’s life continued largely as normal after prison, Desiree Washington’s was turned upside down. The teen spoke to Barbara Walters in 1992 to discuss the Mike Tyson rape case and how it had changed everything for her.
YouTube/20/20Desiree Washington appears on 20/20 to discuss the Mike Tyson rape trial with Barbara Walters.
“I became so anti-social and I didn’t make any friends and I didn’t trust anyone and I didn’t want anyone around me… I went from being such an outgoing person to someone who was just so… secluded. I just sat in my room, and I just couldn’t move… I was just such an outgoing person, such a loving person, such a trusting person, and I miss that person.”
After the Mike Tyson rape trial, Desiree Washington largely disappeared from the public eye. What once was one of the biggest scandals of the 1990s fell into obscurity. However, in 2022, the streaming service Hulu released a show called Mike, a biopic miniseries about Mike Tyson’s life.
Mike includes harrowing scenes exploring the assault of Desiree Washington and its aftermath, giving Washington’s story the recognition it deserves.
As executive producer Karin Gist explained to Shondaland, “We were really just trying to get in the head of a young girl, what that felt like, and then to still hold on to that sense of self. It was about giving that story voice from her experience.”
Gist continued, “We need to start talking about that because whenever we kind of push things under the rug as a society like it’s too complicated to talk about or touch, we never really move the conversation forward. She was just about to start her life. This thing happened to her. The bravery of that, I think it’s something that should be kind of championed.”
After reading about Desiree Washington and the Mike Tyson rape case, dive into the true story of Virginia Rappe, the Hollywood movie star who died after partying in Los Angeles. Then, read about the most infamous scandals of the 1990s that shocked America.
