PORT ANGELES — Convicted child molester Donald William Kingsley was sentenced Thursday to nearly six years in prison for a crime a bench trial found he committed against an 8-year-old girl.
Kingsley, 30, of Port Angeles, was sentenced to 70 months confinement, a two-month deviation from the 51- to 68-month standard range.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brian Coughenour based the exceptional sentence on the aggravating factor that Kingsley violated his position of trust as a babysitter and family friend to commit first-degree child molestation last August.
“You had a special relationship with the family, and you clearly had a position of trust,” Coughenour told Kingsley.
Kingsley was convicted of first-degree child molestation after a two-day bench trial in January.
He was acquitted of first-degree child rape, the primary charge stemming from the same incident at the girl’s home last Aug. 24.
At trial, Kingsley testified that he was given free room and board at the victim’s Port Angeles home in exchange for babysitting the girl and her siblings.
He repeatedly denied that he touched the girl inappropriately.
Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sarah Woolman requested an 84-month sentence for Kingsley based on the position of trust aggravator.
Defense attorney John Hayden of Clallam Public Defender said a standard-range sentence was appropriate.
“This is different than a typical abuse of trust situation,” Hayden said.
“This is not someone who has ingratiated himself in a particular place for a particular purpose.
“This is much more akin to simply a family member going off the rails and doing something bad.”
After prison, Kingsley will be in community custody subject to Indeterminate Sentence Review Board review.
“You will be exposed on sex offender registration for basically your lifetime as well,” Coughenour told Kingsley.
Kingsley will be required to undergo sex offender treatment as part of his community custody.
Coughenour signed a lifetime sexual assault protection order prohibiting Kingsley from having any contact with the victim.
Kingsley offered no apology to the victim or her family.
In a brief statement to the court, Kingsley took issue with a transcript of a statement that the victim’s father made after his arrest and with a new video conferencing system used in Superior Court.
Port Angeles police arrested Kingsley after the girl’s father confronted him about the allegations while wearing a police wire.
In his testimony, Kingsley said he felt threatened and intimidated by the father and made up a story about touching the girl inappropriately.
“It sounded like the father was putting words in my mouth, or it was transcribed that way,” Kingsley said at Thursday’s sentencing hearing.
“There was a gun safe in the room where the children had slept. …. and at no time was I able to actually leave the facility.”
Kingsley said the video conferencing system allows inmates to hear about each other’s cases.
“I believe that the video court could lead to injury and/or serious harm,” Kingsley said.
Woolman read a victim impact statement provided by the girl’s father.
“What Donnie did was not a one-time thing that only affected one person at one point in time,” the father said.
“What he did has affected our family, especially our daughter, and will continue to affect us even after Donny has finished his prison sentence.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.