SEQUIM — A 52-year-old Sequim man has been arrested on investigation of luring and sexual exploitation of a minor, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Craig A. Gallauher remained in the Clallam County Jail on Monday in lieu of $20,000 bond.
Sexual exploitation of a minor is a Class B felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine, and luring is a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
Gallauher had an encampment near the Dungeness River, south of the Railroad Bridge Park in Sequim, the Sheriff’s Office said. Parents of minor children considered him a family friend, the agency added.
A 9-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were left in Gallauher’s care sometime between March 31 and April 4, the Sheriff’s Office said.
When the children visited Gallauher’s campsite, they asked to go fishing with him. Gallauher allegedly told the children he would only take them fishing if they both got naked so he could take pictures of them, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Gallauher said he a “sex chair” and told them they had to sit on the chair naked. The chair was described as a circle of dirt near a tree at the campsite, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The children reported to the Sheriff’s Office that they felt uncomfortable with Gallauher’s statements and left the campsite. Gallauher allegedly told the children that they couldn’t leave without him and that “monsters would come and get them if they didn’t come back,” according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s detectives conducted child forensic interviews with each child independently and determined there was probable cause for Gallauher’s arrest.
Detectives searched the area near the Railroad Bridge Park and located a campsite that was believed to be Gallauher’s. The campsite matched the description provided by the children during their interviews, the Sheriff’s Office said.
There also was a dirt mound between two trees, consistent with the children’s description of what Gallauher referred to as the “sex chair,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
Gallauher was arrested just before 10 p.m. Friday by Sequim police officers near West Brackett Road and Juniper Mobile Estates, the Sheriff’s Office said.
