PORT ANGELES — A 20-year-old Port Angeles man, charged Wednesday with third-degree child rape involving a 14-year-old girl, posted $5,000 bail that same day before being arrested for investigation of a second alleged rape.
Justin Michael Thayer will appear at 1 p.m. today in Clallam County Superior Court for the possible filing of the rape charge. He remained in the Clallam County jail Thursday without bail.
Superior Court Judge Simon Barnhart on Wednesday set Thayer’s arraignment on the child rape charge for 9 a.m. Aug. 7.
Thayer was arrested Saturday following interviews with Sheriff’s Deputy Marc Titterness. Thayer said he had consensual sex with the 14-year-old girl, said Titterness, who also interviewed the girl, who said she knows Thayer, and the girl’s mother, according to a probable cause statement.
When arrested Saturday, Thayer also was incarcerated for investigation of second-degree rape, but the charge was not filed Wednesday by the county prosecuting attorney’s office.
Third-degree child rape occurs when a person has sexual intercourse with another person who is at least 14 and younger than 16 and who is at least four years older than the victim.
It is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The rape occurred between April 15-May 15, according to the charging document.
The girl said she and a 15-year-old female friend were drinking alcohol at the friend’s house around midnight when the friend called Thayer to come over.
While the friend was passed out on the floor, the younger girl “was really dizzy and fell asleep” on a bed, she told Titterness.
She said she awoke to Thayer taking off her clothes and told him to stop before he raped her.
Thayer told Titterness that the girl initiated sexual contact.
“Justin stated at no point did [the girl] ask him to stop or suggest she did not want to have sex,” Titterness said in the report.
Titterness’ probable cause statement also includes an allegation of second-degree rape of the 15-year-old, now 16.
An hour after Titterness interviewed the 14-year-old, he interviewed the older girl.
The girl told Titterness she was at Thayer’s trailer in January or February.
She said she drank about half a bottle of vodka when Thayer had sex with her twice after she told him to stop.
When Titterness interviewed Thayer about the alleged child rape, he asked about the allegations made by the older girl.
“Justin said he made a mistake, but swears he does not ‘remember’ her telling him to stop,” Titterness said in the probable cause statement.
“Justin is willing to take a polygraph test and thinks it will say he is being honest about that.”
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at [email protected].
