PORT ANGELES — A 45-year-old man has been charged with a variety of crimes related to alleged sexual misconduct with his girlfriend’s 13-year-old daughter.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge George L. Wood on Friday issued a summons for Robert J. Knight to appear in court Oct. 1.
Knight has been charged with second-degree child molestation, voyeurism and possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct for allegedly touching the girl, watching her shower and possessing an image on his cell phone of the girl wearing a bra.
Port Angeles police said they received a complaint from the girl that her mother’s boyfriend had possibly sexually assaulted her, according to court documents.
A police investigator interviewed the girl Sept. 1 at the Port Angeles High School security office.
After subsequent interviews with the girl’s mother and Knight, police said the adult couple is engaged in a “master-slave type relationship” in which Knight is the master and the girl’s mother is the slave, according to the certification of probable cause.
The woman is unidentified because it would lead to the identity of the girl.
Knight told police the girl and her siblings are “included in the relationship to a lesser degree,” court documents show.
Police said the girl was made to shower in view of Knight and her mother last month after the girl was caught sneaking a boy into the house that Knight shares with the girl’s mother.
The girl told police Knight touched her breasts later in August.
Police took the girl into protective custody and placed her with Child Protective Services.
After obtaining a search warrant for Knight’s cell phone, police found the image of the girl in her bra.
Knight reportedly told police that he forced the girl to wear a metal locking bracelet as a reminder of the consequences of having a boyfriend and possibly getting pregnant, police said.
Knight told police he might have inadvertently touch the girl’s breast through her clothing, but didn’t know for sure because he has a nerve disorder and couldn’t feel his hands.
A Port Angeles police detective signed a certification of probable cause to arrest Knight on Sept. 3.
He was not in custody at Clallam County Jail on Tuesday.
The maximum penalty for second-degree child molestation, a Class B felony, is 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Voyeurism and possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct — both Class C felonies — carry a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
