PORT ANGELES — Bail has been set at $500,000 for a registered sex offender accused of raping a 14-year-old girl.
Tucker Scott Kahler, 26, was arrested Thursday for investigation of second-degree rape and third-degree rape of a child.
On Friday, Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brent Basden granted Chief Criminal Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin’s request for a $500,000 bail for Kahler.
Port Angeles police alleged that Kahler met the child at the Sequim Walmart on July 21 and raped her that evening on Ediz Hook.
The Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will consider filing formal charges against Kahler at his next court appearance at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Kahler allegedly provided the girl with two White Claw hard seltzer alcoholic drinks and raped her in his station wagon, Port Angeles Police Detective David Arand said in the affidavit for probable cause.
The alleged rape was reported by the girl’s grandmother Aug. 7.
After interviewing the girl at Healthy Families of Clallam County, Arand obtained a search warrant to collect DNA evidence from Kahler’s vehicle. The station wagon had been completely destroyed after the alleged crime.
Security footage from the Sequim Walmart showed Kahler purchasing items in the early morning hours of July 22 as the girl described, Arand said.
Kahler, who was described in court papers as a Port Angeles transient, was arrested as he reported to a state Department of Corrections officer in Sequim on Thursday.
Arand was granted search warrants to seize Kahler’s phone and collect his DNA, court papers said.
“Forensic testing by the Washington State Crime Lab of the material recovered from the Subaru and DNA samples from [the alleged victim] and Kahler are pending,” Arand said in the probable cause statement.
Kahler has prior convictions for first-degree child molestation, violation of a restraining order and failure to register as a sex offender, Arand said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
