Charges increased in murder of missing mother
TACOMA - Pierce County prosecutors said they are upping the charges in the killing of an Orting woman who was missing for more than two weeks before her decomposed body was found in a ravine.
Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Wednesday 29-year-old Jonathan Harris now faces a charge of first-degree murder in the death of
Nicole White.
Lindquist said the charge was amended due to work by a forensic anthropologist showing White was beaten to death.
White was last seen leaving a Spanaway bar June 6 with Harris, whom she met through an online dating service. Detectives said Harris beat White to death, wrapped her in a tarp and rolled her body down a wooded ravine near Kapowsin.
Harris has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed on $2 million bail.
Couple accused of forcing teen into prostitution
SEATTLE - Authorities have arrested a Seattle woman and her boyfriend on suspicion of forcing the woman's 17-year-old relative into prostitution.
The Seattle Times reported 22-year-old Ayesha Barquet and 32-year-old James Croone Jr. were arrested last week in an undercover operation at a Seattle hotel. They have been charged with promoting the commercial sex abuse of a minor.
Charging documents said Barquet recruited and advertised the girl online and Croone drove the girl to meet with different customers.
Police began their investigation in September after the girl was treated at a hospital, where staff called authorities to report the girl had been raped.
The charging papers said Barquet was a distant relative of the girl through marriage.
Court records show Barquet and Croone were booked into the King County Jail.
Man stabbed while trying to break up fight
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Police said a Washington man was stabbed while trying to calm down a group of fighting people.
The Bellingham Herald reported that police found the 36-year-old man about a block away from the Monday night confrontation in downtown Bellingham. He had two stab wounds on his torso and at least one on his arm.
Lt. Bob Vander Yacht said one of the fighters stabbed the intervening stranger, who was hospitalized and underwent surgery on his arm.
Deputy prosecutor Jeffrey Sawyer said police arrested a 49-year-old man who was carrying a bloody knife in the area, although the man denied stabbing anyone.
Sawyer said formal charges have not been filed yet and that the suspect is a registered sex offender with an extensive criminal history.
Ex-teacher charged with raping student in 2006
SEATTLE - A former Renton teacher has been charged with third-degree rape of a child after he told a police detective that he had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student in 2006.
The Seattle Times reported that Jeffrey Willis was charged last week.
King County prosecutors said Willis admitted the relationship with the student in his eighth-grade class at Dimmitt Middle School.
Renton School District spokesman Randy Matheson said the alleged victim reported the relationship to officials in August. Willis worked for the district for 11 years, most recently at Hazen High School. He was fired before the start of the school year.
The former student, now 23, told police she met Willis when she was 13 and the relationship escalated.
Willis told police he knew a line had been crossed.
Teacher jailed for sending nude photos to boy
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - A former high school teacher in Springfield was sentenced to 30 days in jail after she pleaded guilty to sending nude photos and a video to a 15-year-old student.
Thirty-one-year-old Stephanie Rodakowski also will have to give up her teaching license and spend three years on probation.
As she entered her plea Wednesday, Rodakowski said through tears that she's very sorry.
Springfield police began an investigation after the Thurston High School English teacher told administrators that a male student had stolen her cellphone and shared a nude photo he found on the device. Police said Rodakowski later acknowledged the story was false and admitted she had sent naked photos to the student.
She was convicted of endangering the welfare of a minor and tampering with evidence.
Sex crimes trial begins for ex-police sergeant
EVERETT - A Snohomish County jury will decide the fate of a former Monroe police sergeant who is accused of filming a teenage babysitter taking showers in his home.
The Daily Herald reported that on Tuesday, jurors saw a video of Carlos Alberto Martinez telling the woman he loved her breasts and other suggestive things in stark contrast of his insistence that he had no sexual attraction to her before the filming.
Martinez is charged with voyeurism and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, both felonies. He said his decision to install cameras in his bathroom was out of concern that the girl - then 15 - might have been cutting herself.
40 horses up for adoption at Boise BLM
BOISE - Horses rounded up following a giant wildfire in southwestern Idaho are being offered for adoption.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is making 38 horses available for viewing Friday and then adoption Saturday at the Boise BLM Wild Horse Corrals located south of Boise. Two more halter-trained horses captured elsewhere are also being offered.
The agency said the herd contains a good mix of fillies and geldings all under age 2.
Bids begin at $125. Adopters must be at least 18 and have an approved bidding application on file.
Officials said the 436-square-mile wildfire in August destroyed forage the horses need to survive.
The BLM is also caring for more than 100 other horses at the corrals until the range recovers and they can be released back into the wild.
Associated Press