Fired Whatcom deputy used position to threaten, sexually assault 2 women, records say
A Whatcom County sheriff’s deputy who was fired allegedly abused his position as a law enforcement officer to blackmail, threaten and sexually assault at least two women, court records state.
Detectives believe there may be other victims.
Austin Michael Case, 23, of Ferndale, was arrested Wednesday, July 12, on suspicion of third-degree rape, first-degree extortion, first-degree burglary, fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation and two counts of unlawful imprisonment, The Bellingham Herald previously reported. Formal charges have not yet been filed.
Details about the charges emerged during a hearing Thursday in Whatcom County Superior Court that indicated Case allegedly used his position as a sheriff’s deputy to threaten and sexually assault the two women.
Case is currently incarcerated in the Skagit County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, which was set Thursday by a courts commissioner.
His arraignment is scheduled for July 21.
Rape, extortion charges
During an interview Tuesday, July 11, with investigators, the first woman said she and Case met on Tinder and communicated via Snapchat.
It was at this time that the woman told Case about her DUI arrest and said she was on probation. Case told the woman he was working on becoming a police officer.
The woman eventually agreed to hang out with Case and she went to his home in rural Whatcom County last fall or winter. The woman told investigators Case attempted to force her to kiss and ended up “’pecking her on the lips and then she flipped off the bed and left and blocked all contact,” the court documents state.
The woman told investigators she later redownloaded Tinder, Case messaged her again and she readded him on Snapchat. The woman told Case that “when he was acting appropriately, he was fine to talk to,” the records state.
The pair continued talking and Case told her about becoming a sheriff’s deputy. The woman told investigators Case later started using her DUI against her, “Saying things like you’re a bad girl,” the court records show.
The woman said that while she was out at a bar one night, which violated her probation, Case saw her location on her Snapchat maps and messaged her, telling her that she wasn’t supposed to be at a bar, court documents state.
Case told the woman she would regret having her location on there because he could get her in trouble. The woman said she was terrified of going to jail or losing her job and said Case could ruin her life, according to court records.
Case then told the woman “to come to his house and sleep with him and that his house was closer than her house. He said that he knows cops in town and stated, ‘I will have you arrested’ if she didn’t come to his house,” the records state.
The woman told investigators she went to Case’s house because she was terrified of him ruining her life and of going to jail. The woman said she told Case she wanted to sleep it off and that she did not want to have sex with him.
“He asked her why did she even come here then, and she said it was because he threatened her,” court documents state. “He said that she should be glad she went there or he would have her arrested and that he was doing her a favor.”
The woman repeatedly told Case she didn’t want to have sex with him and the pair argued about it for about 15 minutes, court documents state.
Case then climbed on top of the woman and straddled her, while still arguing with her about having sex. The woman told investigators she eventually “laid back on the bed and ‘played dead’, closing her eyes.”
Case then raped the woman, according to court records.
The woman told investigators she “felt trapped because she felt that if she left he would call the cops on her and that she would go to jail.”
Second woman’s story
Investigators interviewed a second woman on Tuesday, July 11, who said she had met Case on Instagram in March. She said they were both members of an Instagram group and had connected over having the same vehicle, the court records state.
The woman told investigators Case had messaged her and offered to help her fix a vehicle light over FaceTime. The woman took Case up on his offer and they successfully fixed the light over FaceTime. Case then asked the woman to dinner and she agreed, “trying to be nice since he had helped her,” court documents state.
Case picked the woman up at her house and drove her to dinner. The woman told investigators Case walked into her house without being invited once he had arrived.
While Case drove the woman home after dinner, the woman thanked him and said she was going to go shopping. The woman told investigators she had made similar comments during dinner “because she felt weird being around him, [and] to indicate to him that nothing further would happen between them,” the court records state.
The pair pulled up to the woman’s house and as she was unbuckling, Case told her not to move and locked her in the vehicle. He then went around to the passenger side of the car, unlocked the door and let the woman out.
The woman told investigators that she did not feel free to leave Case’s car, and said “that if she had tried to get out he would have blocked her,” according to court documents.
Case told the woman he was going to walk her to her door. He then told her he was coming inside before stepping into the woman’s house behind her and locking the door, the records show.
The woman told investigators Case then picked her up by her armpits, carried her to the kitchen, placed her on the island and stood in between her legs so she was unable to leave, court documents state.
The woman said Case forcibly kissed her and began touching her. The woman moved her head back and forth to get him to stop and told him no multiple times.
When Case noticed the woman was not actively kissing him, he asked if she was scared. The woman told him she was.
“Case then grabbed her wrist and checked her pulse with his fingers and commented on her heart rate being high. He then turned her wrist and checked her heart rate on her Apple watch,” the court documents state.
“Case then lifted his shirt and showed a handgun and asked, ‘Now are you scared?’”
“Yes,” the woman said.
She then hopped off the island and ran around the counter while telling Case to leave. The woman told investigators that Case asked her for two more minutes to talk and she agreed “because she was worried about being sexually assaulted if she didn’t agree,” according to court records.
The woman said Case “herded” her to the couch and forced her to kiss him for two minutes. After two minutes had passed, the woman told investigators she jumped up, grabbed Case’s arm and directed him outside. She said she locked the door behind him.
The woman told investigators Case immediately began calling and texting the woman. She never responded to him, the records state.
Case declined to speak with SMART investigators after his arrest on Wednesday, according to the court documents. He was taken into custody without incident.
Background
Case, who was hired in mid-January by the Sheriff’s Office, was fired Wednesday, the same day he was arrested, The Herald previously reported. He was still in his 15-month probationary period.
Case is also currently the subject of an internal affairs investigation to determine whether Case violated any rules or regulations governing sheriff’s employees, The Herald previously reported.
The investigation was started and Case was placed on paid administrative leave on June 29. He had previously begun his field training in Whatcom County 10 days earlier, according to Whatcom County Undersheriff Doug Chadwick.
The internal administrative investigation will not be finished until after the criminal investigation into Case is completed, Chadwick said in an email to The Herald.
Additional details about the internal affairs investigation, including the potential policy or rule violations, will not be released at this time, Chadwick said.
The Herald has reached out to Case’s defense attorney for comment.
On June 29, the sheriff’s office was notified about social media conversations that caused concerns regarding Case’s adherence to the expectations for sheriff’s office employees, The Herald previously reported.
An anonymous report accusing Case of sexually harassing women had been filed, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents.
Case was placed on leave later that same day. This was the first time the Sheriff’s Office started having concerns about Case, Chadwick said.
On Monday, July 10, the sheriff’s office contacted the Mount Vernon Police Department and requested that a criminal investigation against Case be opened. Because the scope of the investigation “proved to be very resource consuming for any one agency,” the Skagit and Island County Multiple Agency Response Team, or SMART, was activated.
SMART, which includes a team of investigators, technical experts and command staff throughout Skagit and Island counties, is most commonly activated for police shootings or deadly force incidents. In criminal investigations similar to Case’s, SMART can be activated “when the scope of work exceeds the current capacity of a single agency,” a previous SMART press release stated. Such limitations can include staffing, current caseloads or complexity of an investigation.
During an interview for the internal affairs investigation with the sheriff’s office, a woman disclosed allegations against Case of rape and assault with sexual motivation, according to court records.
First appearance
SMART detectives obtained search warrants for Case’s residence and vehicle, according to previous Herald reporting.
At Case’s first appearance in court Thursday afternoon, Skagit County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rosemary Kaholokula said roughly 20 firearms were taken from Case’s home. All were legally obtained, she said.
The Skagit County prosecutor’s office is handling the case due to conflicts of interest because he is a Whatcom County deputy.
Kaholokula called Case’s actions an “egregious abuse of his power and his authority.”
“He used his authority specifically to sexually assault two different women. This is incredibly dangerous,” Kaholokula said in court Thursday.
Case’s defense attorney, Lisa Elliott, said Thursday in court that Case had lived in Whatcom County his entire life and had no previous criminal history. She said Case was “not a danger to the community.”
Whatcom County Superior Court Commissioner Ann Vetter-Hansen set Case’s bail at $250,000, because she said there were “grave concerns” that Case “poses a likelihood to interfere with the administration of justice.”
Sexual assault protection orders were put in place for the two women.
While Vetter-Hansen was reading aloud the sexual assault protection orders, Case spoke up and said he knew how to properly pronounce one of the women’s names.
If Case posts bond, he will be required to stay in Whatcom County and not possess any firearms or dangerous weapons. He is expected to turn over all of his firearms and weapons to SMART by his arraignment on July 21, records indicate.
Detectives with SMART believe there are additional victims and are requesting their assistance with the investigation, The Herald previously reported.
Anyone with information that would assist the SMART investigation is asked to call the tip line at (360)-661-2319. The line is being monitored by detectives.
Resources available
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, you can contact the following local resources for free, confidential support:
Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.
Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.
Tl’ils Ta’á’altha Victims of Crime: 360-325-3310 or nooksacktribe.org/departments/youth-family-services/tlils-taaaltha-victims-of-crime-program/
Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.
WWU Survivor Advocacy Services at the Counseling & Wellness Center: 360-650-7982 or https://cwc.wwu.edu/survivorservices.
Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org.
This story was originally published July 14, 2023 at 7:36 AM with the headline "Fired Whatcom deputy used position to threaten, sexually assault 2 women, records say."
