TACOMA — The state Court of Appeals in Tacoma has upheld the 2013 Alford plea of a Port Angeles man sentenced to 25 years in prison for child rape and possession of child pornography, according to the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Dwayne Marcum is serving his sentence in the Coyote Ride Corrections Center in Connell.
Marcum was sentenced for rape of a child in the first degree, child molestation in the first degree, sexual exploitation of a minor and six counts of possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first degree, according to court documents.
Marcum in 2013 submitted an Alford plea and was sentenced to 300 months in prison, according to court documents.
An Alford plea is when a defendant does not admit the act but admits the prosecution likely could prove the charge.
In 2014, Marcum filed a motion to withdraw his plea.
His motion was denied by the Superior Court after arguments by Deputy Prosecutor Alexandrea Schadowski.
In May 2015, Lisa E. Tabbut — Marcum’s attorney — filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals.
Court of Appeals
In the appeal, Tabbut argued Marcum’s Alford plea was invalid because there was no factual basis to support the charges, according to court documents.
The prosecuting attorney’s office in July 2015 filed a brief with the Court of Appeals stating there was indeed sufficient factual basis supporting the guilty plea.
The court ruled Jan. 8.
Marcum, then 39, was arrested by Port Angeles police in July 2012 after a woman reported a man leaving a wooded area behind her home in west Port Angeles, according to court documents.
She and her family searched the area and reported finding a hydration backpack — used to carry water and other items on long-distance hikes or bike rides — containing pornography, sex implements and a pair of children’s underwear.
Thumb drive
Upon investigation, Officer Erik Smith found a thumb drive in addition to the other items.
Following the execution of a search warrant, more explicit still images and video — along with paper documents addressed to Marcum — were located.
In an interview at the Port Angeles police station the day of the arrest, detectives told Marcum his name had been associated with the flash drive and digital camera.
Marcum said the camera looked similar to one he owned that had gone missing and that he had possessed the flash drive after initially denying he had even seen it before, according to the probable-cause statement.
Marcum told the officers the flash drive contained child pornography but that someone had mailed it to him in an attempt to blackmail him, according to court documents.
Marcum eventually told the officers the flash drive contained two pictures of him molesting a child, court documents said, but that he had been diagnosed as having a split personality and did not remember doing the things depicted in the pictures.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
