SEE INSIDE: Councilman details list of city’s 2012 accomplishments, Page 7 . . . . Enumclaw, White River winter athletes continue their postseason adventure, Pages 8 and 9
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Wednesday, February 6, 2013 | 75 cents
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Enumclaw man charged with child molestation Prosecutors file notice of special allegation, seek longer sentence By Kevin Hanson Senior Writer
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Look inside... It’s happening everywhere... kids graduate from college, the job market is tight and the young adults head home to live with Mom and Dad. Some enjoy the experience while others have trouble. Page 4.
The calm of the local public library was shattered last week when a young girl was threatened, forced into the bathroom and sexually assaulted. The silver lining stemming from the story is the girl was physically unharmed and a suspect was quickly identified and arrested. Travis Martin Lear, 25, now
faces a charge of first-degree child molestation. That’s not uncharted territory for the Enumclaw man, who has twice been convicted of sex crimes and is a registered, Level 1 sex offender. When Lear was formally charged Friday, prosecutors also filed notice of a special allegation that provides for a longer sentence if a sexual assault was a “predatory offense.” If a jury finds that allegation to be true, it triggers a mandatory 25-year sentence. With the special allegation, a parole board has the ability to keep an inmate in prison for life. According to information taken from an Enumclaw Police
Department press release and a “probable cause” document prepared by EPD Det. Sgt Mark Leitl, the incident unfolded like this. On the afternoon of Jan. 30, the 11-year-old victim and her father were visiting the library. She eventually headed to the library parking lot, got into their car and was having a snack. A man approached the vehicle and ordered the girl to head into the library bathroom, threatening to kill her if she didn’t follow his orders. Fearing for her safety, the young victim complied. The stranger, later identified as Lear, followed the girl into the bathroom and locked the door. He kissed her and molested her
The forecast calls for rainy conditions Wednesday and Thursday with high temperatures in the mid40s and lows in the lower 30s. Things change Friday through the weekend with patchy fog and some clouds, but little chance of rain. Even with sun on Friday, highs won’t climb past 45.
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before becoming apologetic. The suspect said he didn’t like what he was doing but couldn’t control his “urges.” He told the victim she could leave, but not before issuing another warning: if she told anyone what happened, he said, he would kill her. The victim ran from the building and located her father, who had been searching for her. She told her father what had happened and pointed to Lear as he was walking from the library building. The victim’s father confronted the suspect, who first denied the incident occurred and then stated he had
Visitors to the Enumclaw Wine and Chocolate Festival were treated Friday and Saturday to the aerial performance of Ileigh Reynolds, the creative force behind Animate Objects Physical Theater. Accompanied by live music, she danced while suspended above the audience that was sampling chocolate and sipping wine. Photo by Kevin Hanson
Joanne’s Barbershop 919 Kincaid Ave Sumner 253-826-1500
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January 23rd 2013
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The Enumclaw City Council selected Kyle Diercks to fill the vacancy created by the Nov. 16 death of Councilman Kevin Mahelona. The council narrowed the pool of eight candidates who applied down to three, Diercks, Julie Reece DeMarco and Mike Sando at the Jan. 21 meeting. At the Monday (Jan 28) meeting the council interviewed the three and decided Kyle Diercks upon Diercks. Diercks is an attorney and owns Mountain Aire Mercantile, 1444 Cole St. The 54-year-old Mahelona died from acute interstitial pneumonia in November. He was first elected to the council in 2001 and served until his death.
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