PORT ANGELES — Bail of $65,000 has been set for a Port Angeles man arrested for investigation of alleged third-degree child rape of a 14-year-old boy and for the alleged distribution of a controlled substance — marijuana — to a person younger than 18.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Erik Rohrer on Friday also set a 1 p.m. hearing Monday on filing criminal information against the man, Shawn Dawson, 46, who has denied the rape allegations, according to his statement to authorities when he was arrested.
Rohrer rejected a request by county Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin for $100,000 bail, saying Dawson does not have a criminal history or a record of failing to appear for court hearings.
“He is facing some very serious allegations that are very concerning to the court,” Rohrer said.
The bail was “substantially less” than Devlin requested but also “appropriate considering the seriousness of the allegations,” he said.
The boy accused Dawson, a bartender, of raping him three times, according to an arrest report filed by county sheriff’s office Deputy Amy Bundy.
According to the report, the teen had talked about one of the rapes with his mother, grandmother, brothers and a Stevens Middle School employee.
The boy said he had known Dawson for about a year, that he had worked for Dawson.
Dawson took him to movies and he had used the hot tub at Dawson’s house, the boy said.
The boy’s grandmother told Bundy that her grandson had done yard work for Dawson in the summer of 2016 and that the boy frequently was at Dawson’s house.
The boy said Dawson would supply him and a friend with cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana.
He said Dawson raped him once after he used his hot tub between Sept. 26 and Christmas.
He said Dawson exposed himself once in the movies, groped him in a hot tub and assaulted him with a sex toy.
Authorities began investigating the allegations after the sheriff’s office received a March 22 report on Dawson from Port Angeles Police Officer Harold Balderson.
“The report indicates that [the boy] disclosed to his mother and grandmother that Shawn was a pervert and had purchased a ‘blunt’ from a pot shop for [the boy],” according to Bundy’s report.
Bundy obtained a search warrant March 25 to search Dawson and his West Ninth Street Port Angeles residence.
Dawson was arrested after a deputy saw him drive past his house without stopping, Bundy said.
He consented to be interviewed at the sheriff’s office.
“Shawn admitted to purchasing marijuana for [the boy from an area shop] and to giving him alcohol while [the boy] was at his house, but he denied there ever being any sexual contact between himself and [the boy],” according to the report.
“Shawn told me when he stopped providing marijuana to [the boy], [he] made up this story because he was mad at him.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.