A Bothell police detective faces charges of sexual misconduct with a minor.
The Bothell Police Department confirms that recently Det. Dione Thompson was responsible for keeping the public informed of sex offender notifications. Before that she was assigned to the Bothell High School campus as a school resource officer.
During her time there, in 2010, a female student, age 17, says she was befriended by Thompson. They began to message each other on Facebook and eventually engaged in a sexual relationship with one of their encounters happening in a marked police car in a library parking lot, according to court documents.
The documents also said the student, who was dealing with turmoil in her personal life, even moved in with Thompson for a period of time.
A Seattle police officer accused of molesting his ex-girlfriend’s daughter was ordered held Tuesday in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Officer Eric A. Smith, 57, of Bothell, appeared in Everett District Court on Tuesday afternoon via video feed from the Snohomish County Jail, where he is being held for investigation of alleged child molestation and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Kathy Jo Blake sought $250,000 bail, claiming Smith was an “untreated sex offender.” Smith’s attorney, Soloman Kim, sought a lower bail for the veteran police officer, who was arrested on Monday. - He is not a sex offender until he's found guilty!
“Officer Smith is a 30-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department. He has no criminal history, whatsoever,” Kim said in court Tuesday.
Kim said his client has had no contact with the victim or his ex-girlfriend since October.
District Court Judge Tam Bui found probable cause to hold Smith and granted Kim’s bail request. She also ordered Smith to turn over his passport.
Blake said felony charges could be filed as early as Wednesday.
The allegations came to light after the girl, who is now 12, told a teacher about years of abuse, according to jail booking paperwork released Tuesday by the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office. The abuse allegedly occurred when the girl was between the ages of 7 and 11 while Smith was dating her mother.
According to the paperwork, the child had told her mother about the alleged abuse on three earlier occasions.
Blake said in court that when the girl first told her mother about the abuse in 2009, the mother confronted Smith.
The mother and Smith, together, then went to talk to the girl, Blake said. Smith never should have been included in that conversation, she said.
The girl’s mother told investigators that after the first disclosure the girl recanted and was punished by her mother for lying.
The mother told investigators she now believes her daughter might have been coerced by Smith into changing her story, booking paperwork said.
Over the years, the girl told her friends and wrote notes about being abused, the booking paperwork said.
Seattle police personnel records say Smith was hired as an officer in 1983 and has worked as a motorcycle officer since 2002.
The department says he was placed on administrative leave on June 18 when the department became aware of the Snohomish County investigation.
According to a tweet sent Tuesday, Smith remains on paid leave. Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole will re-evaluate his status if he is charged, police tweeted.
A peek at the phone records of a Washington state cop revealed more than 155 text messages between a teenage girl in Texas and photos of her naked body.
The copious texts listed on the phone bill of Officer Donald Glunt, 57, tipped off a sergeant and led to a meeting. He had been texting with a woman, Glunt told the sergeant, and called it a "lapse of judgment," according to court documents filed April 29.
That "woman" was actually a 16-year-old girl.
The officer had spent his entire law enforcement career at Lynden Police Department. He is also an expert on sexual predators and human trafficking and has taught classes on those subjects since 2011.
He resigned April 21 after the allegations surfaced, reported the Bellingham Herald.
In the meeting, the sergeant exchanged the phone for another - one without text messaging capabilities.
However, Glunt wanted to delete something first. The sergeant denied him the opportunity and then discovered the object of Glunt's affection: several nude photos of the teen.
The girl knew the officer as "Don from Washington," she told Texas investigators. He had recently texted her and said he was in trouble, she claimed. If the authorities called, she needed to lie about her age, he allegedly told her.
She let detectives download all the data from her cellphone, the documents said.
The two talked through texts and on an online role-playing game.
Glunt was arrested April 25 and charged with possession of child pornography.
The Washington State Patrol issued several search warrants for Glunt's work and personal property including phones, laptops and desktop computers. They found thousands of images of children that he claimed he collected for presentations on exploited kids.
Glunt told detectives he had deleted some photos from one of his laptops after his phone was taken away. He also said he used his laptop to look at porn and child modeling sites, the documents said.
SEQUIM - Terror turned to outrage at a local park when parents realized a child kidnapping that played out before their eyes was actually faked -- just to make a video.
On any given day, parents and their kids are often found enjoying Carrie Blake Park in Sequim. However, last Saturday treated visitors to a very different scene, as families watched a man in a ski mask appear to kidnap a little boy.
"I saw this guy, he's wearing a mask, just two-handed grabs this kid and jumps into the van and takes off," said Rebekah Asin, a parent who was at the park Saturday.
The abduction looked so real, Tiffany Barnett jumped up and gave chase.
"I was trying to run after them, trying to get their license plate number," Barnett said.
Two cousins, Jason and Jesse Holden were the abductors in the video. They told ABC News that they regret nearly everything about the staged kidnapping.
"I'll be the first one to admit that the way we went about it wasn't the best way. We could have definitely done it another way," Jason Holden said.
Parents realized it was all a ruse when the masked man returned to the park a short time later to say everyone was safe. He also admitted the "crime" was staged to make an educational video on "kidnapping awareness."
The cousins are revaluating their tactics and responsibility after scathing reaction online.
"There's a line to draw where we can do some of our ideas that we do. There's a line that should be drawn and not go over that line," Jason said.
Multiple witnesses called 911. Sequim Police Chief Bill Dickinson said people had good reason to be upset.
"People are angry when they are taken advantage of," Dickinson said. "When they are the butt of the joke, it's never funny."
"The parents were furious and the kids were scared," Asin said.
The cousins have other segments posted on Youtube showing a variety of pranks, including a staged robbery. Many believe this kidnapping project could have easily gotten someone hurt or killed.
"They're lucky that there wasn't an off-duty police officer or somebody carrying a concealed weapon that could have shot them," Barnett said.
Despite all that, nobody has been arrested because apparently no obvious crime was committed. Still, frightened children stood calling their parents, fearful they'd be snatched-up next.
"My daughter is still terrified," Barnett said. "She'll tell you right now, 'What if they take me? what if they take me?'"
Investigators are still looking to see if criminal charges are appropriate, or if the participants violated zoning and licensing rules.
Benton County Superior Court Judge Bruce Spanner is expected to sign orders April 18 officially preventing Benton County from releasing any low-level sex offender information to Donna Zink.
“This will cover every Level 1 sex offender,” said Ryan Lukson, deputy county prosecutor. “Ms. Zink has already appealed. Her appeal will be effective the (day after April 18).”
Spanner ruled in January that the personal information of more than 400 Level 1 sex offenders is confidential and Zink has no “legitimate interest” in it.
Zink requested the information last summer to create a digital database so people could know if sex offenders are living in their neighborhoods, she said.
The information -- which includes offenders’ names, addresses, pictures and other details -- could cause offenders irreparable harm if it’s released, Spanner wrote in his decision. - At least he admits the truth which also affects level 2 & 3 offenders as well as their families and children!
At a hearing Friday, Spanner shot down arguments from Shelley Williams, assistant attorney general, who represents the Washington State Patrol.
Williams argued that sex offenders’ registration information is public record and that the criminal justice system needs to be as transparent as possible.
She wanted an injunction -- which prevents state police from releasing sex offender information from its statewide database to Zink -- dismissed.
But Spanner stuck by his earlier ruling, citing case law, particularly State v. Ward, which states the information is confidential.
“Intellectually, I always go back to the same place and that is State v. Ward,” Spanner said at the hearing.
The case is expected to be decided in higher courts. Zink, who represents herself, has requested sex offender information from multiple agencies in at least three counties across the state.
Franklin County released low-level sex offender information to Zink after her initial request.
There are several injunctions in place in Benton, King and Yakima counties preventing multiple agencies and county officials from releasing sex offender information to Zink.
Zink has also requested more than 80,000 emails from Benton County officials that contain sex offender information. An injunction is place preventing the release of emails that contain sex offender information.
The county was releasing emails in installments to Zink that didn’t contain sex offender information. Zink has since put her request on hold because county officials told her it would take more than a decade to meet.
“We asked her to consider amending the request,” Lukson said. “Given our current pace, we would not complete it until 2032.”
For more about Patrick Drum, click the "Gary Blanton" label above.
Vigilantism is a major problem and that is why the online registry (hit-list) needs to be taken offline and used by police only!
03/07/2014
An Activist Central Two-Hour Special with a pre-recorded February 14th telephone interview of serial killer Patrick Drum inside Walla Walla Washington maximum security prison.
In June 2012, Patrick Drum, a man with a lengthy criminal background, shot and killed two men in Port Angeles, WA, and planned to kill two others had he not been caught by the police. Many people consider him a “hero” because his targets were “Registered Sex Offenders.” Drum believes this country was “founded on vigilantism” and his actions were justified. In this Special Two-Hour Episode of Activist Central, hear the shocking, exclusive interview with the killer himself, Patrick Drum.
Also joining Activist Central is Derek Logue, founder of Once Fallen and the producer of an upcoming documentary on the Patrick Drum killings. Mr. Logue will take us behind the scenes of the upcoming documentary and discuss the details about the killings you won’t hear about in the media.
Is Patrick Drum a hero, or is a monster in his own right? Tune in and decide for yourself.
In 1984, the five-year-old daughter of Clyde “Ray” Spencer, a Vancouver, Washington police officer allegedly suggested that he had molested her.
The ensuing investigation lasted eight months and ultimately Clark County authorities charged Spencer, 37, with sexually abusing the girl, her nine-year-old brother, and Spencer’s five-year-old step-son.
In February, 1985, Spencer pled no contest (an Alford plea) to seven counts of first-degree statutory rape and four counts of complicity to statutory rape, arising from allegations that he made the children perform sex acts with each other as he watched. He was sentenced to two life prison terms, plus 14 years.
Spencer later said he entered the plea only after learning that his defense attorney had prepared no defense for the case. His subsequent appeals to set aside the plea were denied and he was denied parole five times because he refused to admit guilt and get sex offender treatment.
After about a decade in prison, Spencer hired Seattle attorney Peter Camiel, who, along with a private investigator, discovered that prosecutors had withheld medical exams showing that there was no physical evidence of abuse, even though the child’s mother contended they had been repeatedly raped. Also withheld was evidence that at the time, the children’s mother was having an affair with the detective supervising the investigation.
The discovery prompted Washington Governor Gary Locke to commute Spencer’s sentence in 2004, although Spencer was placed on supervision for three years.
Not long after, Spencer’s two natural children came forward to say they were never molested or raped by their father. Both of the children testified at a hearing in 2009 that the abuse never occurred. The boy testified that after being repeatedly and extensively questioned, he finally agreed to say he was abused so that the police would leave him alone. The girl testified that she doesn’t recall what she told police, but she did remember getting ice cream. The step-son refused to recant and contended he had been molested.
In October, 2009, based on the Brady violations and recantations, a court of appeals vacated the plea, saying, “The recantations that remained consistent through direct and cross-examination coupled with the significant irregularities in how the case was prosecuted…require that we grant Spencer’s petition and remand for withdrawal of his plea.” On September 29, 2010, Spencer withdrew his plea and at the same time, Clark County prosecutors dismissed the charges.
In June 2011, Spencer, who moved to Sacramento, California to live with the woman he married while in prison, filed a federal lawsuit against Clark County as well as police and prosecutors involved in the case. In February 2014, a jury awarded Spencer $9 million in damages.
A Pierce County man had no trouble disabling the GPS tracking device that was bound to his ankle, even though it is supposed to send off an alert to law enforcement if it’s tampered with.
“I got sick of this little bugger on my leg, it was beating my ankle into a bloody pulp,” said the 25 year old who asked to be called “Red.”
“I’m not a tagged animal," he added.
Instead of jail time, Red was placed on electronic home monitoring, and a GPS bracelet fixed to his ankle, by the City of Fife police department. He said no one seemed to recognize his home detention “jail break,” even as he met with KING 5 in a city park more than a week after he removed the device.
“Something just clicked in my head that I realized like, 'Why am I playing this game?'” Red said when he realized that the GPS device wasn’t working – or that jailers in Fife simply weren’t paying attention.
Red is not a hardcore criminal. He said his history includes drug- and alcohol-related crimes and theft charges.
However, the state of Washington also uses GPS tracking devices to keep a short leash on of some of the Department of Corrections' most dangerous ex-cons. Most of them are level three sex offenders, who are required to wear a GPS bracelet for at least 30 days after they leave prison.
A KING 5 investigation found that the DOC’s GPS system sends a stream of false alerts to community corrections officers and is prone to blind spots. It’s also manufactured by the same GPS company that was dumped last year by the State of California, reportedly for faulty and unreliable service.
“It’s an additional tool that we’re able to use,” said Mac Pevey, who runs the program for the DOC.
He said GPS helps community corrections officers do the difficult job of keeping ex-cons in line when they’re getting their first taste of freedom after a prison term.
“I think the system works really well,” said Pevey. “We’ve seen a lot of adherence to the program. We’ve gained a lot of compliance from offenders. It’s increased accountability for offenders.”
GPS software is supposed to allow a community corrections officer, more commonly known as a parole officer, to see where an offender is and whether the GPS signal is strong. It also sends email reports if there’s a problem.
But a high-profile case from last December shows some flaws in the system.
Sex offender _____ cut off four GPS bracelets in the months before he stole the Victoria Clipper from the Seattle waterfront, according to DOC records examined by KING 5. _____’s saga played almost like a comedy when it was reported that he’d removed his GPS bracelet and stole the ferry boat because he wanted to sail to Canada.
But there aren't many laughs in _____’s backstory. His mother said _____ was using methamphetamine and carrying a big knife while on GPS monitoring.
“He sleeps here on the floor and he had a machete under his pillow, so I was getting concerned,” _____ said in her West Seattle apartment.
DOC records show _____ cut off at least four GPS bracelets. Other times he simply allowed his GPS battery die. Often, a few days would elapse before the DOC realized that _____ was un-tethered.
“Somehow, we need to ensure we know about the lost or removed GPS units,” DOC Northwest Region Administration James Harms complained in a December 23 email after the Clipper theft.
“We’re following up on that. I’m not sure where that’s at. I know that’s a continuing investigation,” said Pevey about _____’s successes at defeating his GPS device.
_____ was arrested for a disturbing incident after allowing his GPS battery to die. Three months before the Clipper theft, he was stopped by Seattle police officers near Boren and Union streets on Capitol Hill. _____ fit the description of a man who accosted a woman at a crosswalk. The man grabbed her arm and said he’d just gotten out of prison. He said he’d been “following her” and “stated that he hadn't had sex in a while,” according to DOC and police reports. The woman broke free and called police.
Seattle police say _____ was never criminally charged in that incident, but the DOC did send him to jail for 20 days for failing to keep his GPS charged.
DOC records show that community corrections officers receive thousands of alerts each month from GPS devices reporting that offenders are in inappropriate areas, are not at home when they are supposed to be or that there is not a strong signal coming from their device. Records show that homeless level 3 sex offender _____ had 293 alerts in August of 2013. The number jumped to 372 alerts the following month.
KING 5 asked DOC how its parole officers could possibly investigate so many alerts.
“A lot of (_____) alerts were because he was charging his device at Barnes and Noble, a place he was prohibited from being, but he had to charge his device too," said Pevey. “So part of that is having the follow-up conversation and saying ‘where were you and what were you doing?’”
_____, who served a lengthy prison sentence for molesting eight children, is no longer on DOC supervision and no longer wearing a GPS bracelet, but he is wanted for failing to register as a sex offender.
Last year the Los Angeles Times reported on a confidential report by the California Department of Corrections that detailed flaws in the GPS tracking of thousands of California ex-cons. The report that said the public was in “imminent danger” because of faulty GPS devices that criminals could easily tamper with. California cut its ties with manufacturer 3M and switched to another company.
The same 3M device is used by the Washington State Department of Corrections through a program run by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
“3M and the product that we've been using, we found, has had great results,” said DOC’s Pevey.
It’s unclear what type of device the Fife city jail placed on Red’s ankle. After his interview with KING 5, he turned himself in to jailers. The Fife Municipal court, which runs the GPS program for several cities, says it did receive alerts about some problems with Red’s device.
Judge Kevin Ringus said calls were made to Red’s residence to check up on him, but they were never able to get him on the phone -- even though he was supposed to be on home detention.
Ringus said it appears that Red’s device was working most of the time until he was released from monitoring on February 5. (He was interviewed on camera by KING 5 on Feb. 6, and KING 5 saw Red's GPS monitor removed from his ankle a week earlier.)
“[H]e had completed his monitoring without incident as we could still track his movements,” Ringus said in an email to KING 5.
Red said he never charged the device and could take it off his ankle at will.
Excerpt: In 1989, then Governor Booth Gardner formed a task force to study community protection. See Governor's Task Force on Community Protection, Final Report, at I-1 (1989). As a result of the Task Force's recommendations, the Legislature passed the Community Protection Act of 1990. Laws of 1990, ch. 3. Part 4 of the act provides for the registration [123 Wn.2d 493] of adult and juvenile sex offenders. Laws of 1990, ch. 3, §§ 401-409. The Legislature stated that its purpose in requiring registration was to assist local law enforcement, declaring:
The legislature finds that sex offenders often pose a high risk of reoffense (Studies), and that law enforcement's efforts to protect their communities, conduct investigations, and quickly apprehend offenders who commit sex offenses, are impaired by the lack of information available to law enforcement agencies about convicted sex offenders who live within the law enforcement agency's jurisdiction. Therefore, this state's policy is to assist local law enforcement agencies' efforts to protect their communities by regulating sex offenders by requiring sex offenders to register with local law enforcement agencies as provided in [RCW 9A.44.130].
Laws of 1990, ch. 3, § 401. The requirement for sex offender registration, codified at RCW 9A.44.130-.140, became effective February 28, 1990. RCW 18.155.902(1). In 1991, the Legislature amended the statute to clarify and amend the deadlines for sex offenders to register. Laws of 1991, ch. 274, § 2.
The statute requires all persons residing in Washington who have been convicted of any sex offense, as defined by RCW 9.94A.030(29),1 to register with the county sheriff in the county where the person resides. RCW 9A.44.130(1). When registering, the person must provide name, address, date and place of birth, place of employment, crime for which convicted, date and place of conviction, aliases used, and Social Security number. RCW 9A.44.130(2). Any person required to register under the statute who changes residence must either send written notice of the change of address to the county sheriff, if the person relocates within the same county, or register with the county sheriff in the new county, within 10 days of establishing the new residence. RCW 9A.44.130(4). The county sheriff must also obtain a photograph of the individual and a copy of the individual's fingerprints. RCW 9A.44.130(5). The county [123 Wn.2d 494] sheriff must forward the information and fingerprints obtained to the Washington State Patrol for inclusion in a central registry of sex offenders. RCW 43.43.540. A person who knowingly fails to register is guilty of either a class C felony or gross misdemeanor, depending on the severity of the prior conviction. RCW 9A.44.130(7).
