Thurston County man found guilty of sexually assaulting children

A 35-year-old Thurston County man has been sentenced to 26 years, five months to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting his children.

On July 14, the jury found him guilty of six felony charges: one count of first-degree child rape, three counts of first-degree child molestation, one count of first-degree incest and one count of second-degree incest.

“The children were incredibly brave,” Deputy Prosecutor Megan Winder said. “They were able to explain what their father had done to them in a way that a lot of adults aren’t able to. They told the truth. While it was hard to talk about, I know that they feel safer and are more empowered now than they were prior to the trial. They feel like they got justice, and that’s very satisfying.”

He was sentenced Aug. 27 by Thurston County Superior Court Judge Mary Sue Wilson.

The man’s case had been pending since 2013, when the children’s mother reported to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office that her children had been sexually abused by their father, according to court documents. The abuse had taken place over the course of multiple years when the children had been left in their father’s care.

The mother reported that she had been talking to her 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son about Father’s Day when they told her about the abuse.

The man hasn’t lived with the family since he was arrested for domestic violence assault in December 2011, according to court documents.

When detectives began investigating the man in 2013, he had outstanding warrants from Shelton Municipal Court and Thurston County Superior and District courts. Investigators believed that he was no longer living in Washington.

The Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against the man, and a judge issued a warrant for his arrest in November 2013.

The following August, the man was located in Texas, and two Thurston County deputies brought him back to Washington. Since then, he had been awaiting trial in the Thurston County Jail.

The Olympian doesn’t release the name of defendants when doing so may identify their victims.

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Thurston County man found guilty of sexually assaulting children."