PORT TOWNSEND — A Jefferson County judge has upheld a $100,000 bail for a Port Townsend man who will have a second trial this summer on charges of first-degree child rape and first-degree child molestation.
Superior Court Judge Keith Harper denied the request to reduce the bail for Nathaniel Thomas Caylor, 39, who posted a bond shortly after he was arrested last March.
The bail bond company has required Caylor to be on electronic home monitoring at an additional cost of $450 per month, said defense attorney Scott Charlton of Jefferson Associated Counsel.
“I don’t like it — I don’t think it’s reasonable — but I’m going to leave the bail where it’s at,” Harper said Friday.
A mistrial was declared Jan. 30 after a hung jury, and a second trial was set last week to begin June 22.
The charges against Caylor stem from three alleged incidents that involved a girl who was 8 at the time of the first occurrence in early 2018, according to court documents.
All three crimes are Class A felonies punishable by a maximum of life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine.
Caylor pleaded not guilty to all three charges last March.
Charlton on Friday argued on behalf of Caylor, who appeared by telephone.
He said he approached the bail bond company last week and learned the highest bail it would allow without requiring electronic home monitoring is $25,000.
“Frankly, I was hoping for less,” Charlton said. “That’s still a lot of money.”
The bail bond company said it would remove the restriction on Caylor at that amount with collateral in the form of the title of Caylor’s father’s house and the title of Caylor’s car, Charlton said.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Julie St. Marie disagreed that it would ensure Caylor’s appearance in court, even though Charlton argued he’s attended every hearing and was present for last month’s trial.
St. Marie also raised a concern about the court’s jurisdiction.
“I don’t believe we should interject ourselves between Mr. Caylor and the bail company,” she said. “If there are things in place between them, then there’s probably a good reason for it.”
St. Marie reiterated her concern for the community, particularly children, in her argument to maintain the current bail amount.
Charlton said the monitoring device is in place because of a lack of collateral offered last March, not because of the nature of the charges against Caylor.
“He has no concerns,” Charlton said about the bail bondsman. “He’s aware of Mr. Caylor’s charges, and he’s encouraged by the evidence presented at trial and expects him to be found not guilty.
“A bond company is in the business to make their investments secure,” he added. “The reason a bail bondman needs collateral is because they’re on the hook [for the defendant to appear in court] even after the 10 percent down.”
Harper said he didn’t like the situation.
“On the one hand, he’s posted $100,000, he’s shown up and had no violations of his conditions of release,” the judge said. “On the other hand, he’s presumed innocent, and he’s still innocent as of today.”
Harper said he doesn’t know how someone pays $450 per month when they’re indigent.
“The alternative is, well, if you can’t pay it, then you can sit in jail,” he said.
Court documents said Caylor is a family friend who had been asked to babysit the girl on at least one occasion at Caylor’s house. The girl is friends with Caylor’s son, who was 10 at the time, the documents stated.
The alleged victim told police Caylor grabbed her chest in one incident, performed oral sex on her twice and forced her to perform oral sex on him in a separate occurrence, according to the probable cause statement.
The girl said she believed Caylor was drunk on two of the occasions and that he may have been sleeping or thought she was Caylor’s girlfriend, court documents said.
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
