PORT TOWNSEND — A 13-year-old boy charged with three counts of first-degree child rape after deputies said he attacked a 7-year-old girl on a Chimacum school bus entered a not-guilty plea Wednesday.
The next scheduled action in the case is a pretrial hearing at 9 a.m. July 29 in Jefferson County Superior Court at the county courthouse at 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.
The Chimacum Middle School student appeared before Judge Keith Harper with his parents and was released into their custody.
The Peninsula Daily News does not identify juveniles accused of crimes.
Harper appointed public defender Jefferson Associated Counsel to represent the accused.
The juvenile also was ordered to report to the county Sheriff’s Office in Port Hadlock for fingerprinting prior to July 22.
The juvenile is not allowed any unsupervised contact with children 12 and younger, the court ruled.
Prosecuting Attorney Michael Haas said the maximum sentence for the three counts is 108 weeks — or two years and a month — in a juvenile facility.
Judicial discretion
The judge has the discretion to reduce the sentence or impose other options such as therapy or non-jail rehabilitation.
A probable-cause statement filed in court told of a series of nonconsensual sexual acts that included intercourse that occurred at different times.
The alleged assault was reported after the girl was taken to a physician by her aunt, who serves as her guardian, after the girl disclosed what had happened to her, Haas said.
As required by state law, the physician reported the incident to law enforcement officials, in this case the county Sheriff’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Julian Trejo, chief criminal deputy prosecutor.
