Courtesy of Lyon County Sheriff's Office.
Content warning: This article contains sensitive topics, including detailed depictions and references to rape and sexual violence. Please use caution.
An Emporia State tennis player was arrested on charges of alleged rape and attempted aggravated criminal sodomy last month according to the Emporia Police Department.
Dominik Simunovic, 21, an international student from Zagreb, Croatia, was arrested on Oct. 17, three days after a reported rape occurred in an alley behind Bourbon Cowboy in Emporia.
The accuser, who was not publicly identified in court documents and who The Bulletin will refer to as “Jane,” reported that Simunovic raped her on Oct. 14, 2023, according to a redacted probable cause affidavit obtained by The Bulletin.
The affidavit accuses Simunovic of having nonconsensual sex with someone “who had been drinking that night and was intoxicated.” Before the attack, Simunovic asked if Jane wanted to have sex. Jane told Simunovic “no.”
Simunovic allegedly used force on Jane according to the affidavit, initially striking her head against a trailer in the alley between Bourbon Cowboy and Radius Brewing Company and forcing her to her knees. He then attempted to force her to engage in oral penetration. When Jane fought back to prevent Simunovic’s actions, Simunovic is alleged to have used “repeated force” and pushed “her back down to the ground.”
According to the affidavit, Simunovic then removed all of Jane’s clothing and proceeded to forcibly penetrate her as she tried to push him off.
Simunovic stopped when two people who Jane had gone to Bourbon Cowboy with found her behind the trailer in the alley way. The two individuals said they “lost track” of Jane “at the bar around “last call” and started looking for her.” The affidavit states one of the individuals yelled at Simunovic, to which he stood up, pulled up his pants, and walked away.
Emporia Police later found Jane’s nose ring, which was forcibly removed when Simunovic took off her clothes, under the tongue of the trailer. The police also found an article of Jane’s clothing under the privacy fence of Radius Brewing Company.
Jane said Simunovic purchased her “one or two drinks” at Bourbon Cowboy earlier in the night.
According to the affidavit, Simunovic said in an interview on Oct. 17 with Detective Jaffar Agha that Jane was “very drunk,” but he was “sober and clear-minded” and purchased her one drink that night. Simunovic also said what occurred in the alley was consensual and Jane “initiated sexual intercourse with him and removed all of her own clothing.”
After the interview, Simunovic was arrested and transported to the Lyon County Jail. His bail was set at $75,000.
A search warrant was issued for the items Simunovic was wearing during the rape along with an unused condom and condom wrapper, which Simunovic said he threw away at his home. Agha located two pairs of unwashed black jeans and three pairs of dark colored underwear as well as a blue tube of tetrahydrocannabinol gummy candy, but did not find an open condom. The located items were seized and secured as evidence.
Simunovic was bonded out of Lyon County Jail on Nov. 6.
No further information is available at this time.
This is a developing story.
If you have information regarding this ongoing case, call Lyon County Crimestoppers at 620-342-2273. All calls remain anonymous.
If you have been affected by sexual assault or violence, call SOS at 800-825-1295 to speak with an advocate. All calls remain anonymous.