PORT TOWNSEND — A 13-year-old boy was acquitted of three first-degree rape charges when the judge ruled there was no evidence to corroborate the 7-year-old girl’s statement that he had assaulted her.
“There were no physical findings to support the allegations,” Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Keith Harper said during a one-hour statement Monday.
“Kids don’t mean to lie, but they tell stories and can make stuff up.”
The non-jury trial took place last Thursday and Friday, Jan. 28-29. Harper ruled Monday.
The Peninsula Daily News does not identify juveniles accused of crimes.
The Chimacum Middle School student was charged in July after the girl said he assaulted her on a school bus in incidents between Feb. 14 and March 3, 2015.
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 has said.
As required by state law, the physician reported the incident to law enforcement officials, in this case the county Sheriff’s Office.
The boy was then expelled from school and has not yet returned, according to Chimacum Schools Superintendent Rick Thompson.
Thompson said he intended to review the student’s status as soon as possible.
Defense Attorney Scott Charlton said the boy’s education has suffered as a result of the allegations and trial.
He said he did not know where the juvenile would be attending school.
Harper said he examined all the evidence and reached the conclusion to acquit but decided to sleep on it.
“When I got up in the morning, it still looked the same,” he said.
“For a conviction, guilt needs to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. There is a lot of doubt here.”
‘A lot of doubt’
Among these doubts, Harper said, is that the rapes allegedly occurred on a crowded school bus with 40 or 50 other children present.
“There were no witnesses of any kind. I don’t see how this could have happened,” Harper said.
“No one could be located to verify this, and there was a lack of medical evidence.”
On Wednesday, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Julian St. Marie said she was “disappointed” in the ruling but offered no other comment.
Haas had said that if the boy had been found guilty, the maximum sentence for the three counts would be 108 weeks — or two years and a month — in a juvenile facility.
Charlton called the boy “a great kid” who has gone through a lot in recent months.
“It was pretty brutal for a while. The whole family was ostracized,” Charlton said, adding that he was “very happy with the way this turned out.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
